Slang dictionary
buggin’
[ buhg in ]
What does buggin' mean?Â
Popularized by 1990s rap music, buggin’ is used to describe a person who’s acting irrationally, not thinking clearly, or just plain wrong about something. It can also be used to describe someone experiencing drug-induced paranoia. (If you’re looking for a good synonym from this same era, trippin’ basically means the same thing.) In the 2020s, buggin’ evolved to take on a more positive connotation. Now, young people occasionally refer to themselves as buggin’ to suggest they’re enthusiastic about something. Another modern take is buggin’ out, to mean freaking out.Â
Where does buggin’ come from?
Buggin’ was especially popular slang in the 1990s, driven by hip-hop artists including A Tribe Called Quest and The Notorious B.I.G., who used the term in their lyrics. In 1995, the teen movie Clueless further popularized the term, when central character Cher declares that she’s “totally buggin’.” Before its slang meaning, bug/buggin’ meant “to annoy or pester” — much like how bugs buzz around and annoy us.
Examples of buggin’
Who uses buggin’?
Like many popular slang words from the 1990s, buggin’ originated in hip-hop culture. The use of the term in rap music and in movies helped it become a popular word for teens of that era. Though not as popular today, the term is still used in similar circles. If some friends are hanging out and one person is acting paranoid, another friend might say “you’re just buggin’, bro.” In a different vein, someone might use buggin’ to mean “freaking out” in a good way, as in “eager or excited.”
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of buggin’ like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of buggin’ that will help our users expand their word mastery.