Where it sits
About as serious as slang gets. As a question, it checks whether the other person is.
Tell it apart
| Aspect | Deadass | Fr |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | Strong | Medium |
| Regional flavour | New York | None |
| Mild swear? | Contains one | No |
Both mean "seriously". Deadass is louder and more regional, carrying a New York accent; fr is the neutral, everywhere version.
What it really means
Deadass is New York's way of saying "I mean it". "I'm deadass leaving at 6" is not a suggestion. And "deadass?" with a question mark asks whether you're really serious.
It's built from two blunt parts. "Dead" in the sense of completely, as in dead serious, and "-ass", the intensifying suffix of informal American English. Dictionary.com finds "dead-ass" used as an intensifier meaning "wholly" in the 1950s and 60s, and Wiktionary's earliest citation for the serious sense comes from John Rechy's 1963 novel City of Night.
The word as people know it now belongs to New York City. Both Dictionary.com and Wiktionary place its rise there in the late 1990s and 2000s, and Wiktionary also labels it African American Vernacular English. Urban Dictionary defined it in 2003 as "completely and honestly serious". In 2016, Dictionary.com notes, it spread on Reddit's r/BlackPeopleTwitter, where image macros satirised a particular type of Black New Yorker, and the memes then moved to social media more broadly.
That regional flavour is still part of it. Fr says the same thing in any accent. Deadass says it with a New York one.
Where it comes from
completely (as in dead serious)
an intensifying suffix
Wiktionary links some senses to a shortening of "dead-ass serious". The -ass suffix intensifies, as in many informal American compounds.
- 1950s–60s
"Dead-ass" is used as an intensifier meaning "wholly", as in "dead-ass serious" (Dictionary.com).
- 1963
Wiktionary's earliest citation for the "seriously" sense comes from John Rechy's novel City of Night.
- Late 1990s–2000s
Becomes a fixture of New York City slang (Dictionary.com; Wiktionary).
- 2003
Defined on Urban Dictionary as "completely and honestly serious" (Dictionary.com).
- 2016
Spreads widely through memes on Reddit's r/BlackPeopleTwitter (Dictionary.com).
In real life
- Text: "I'm deadass leaving at 6, be ready"
- Text: "they gave us the day off. deadass"
- Text: "you finished the whole series in one weekend? deadass?"
Questions
Q01What does deadass mean?
"Seriously" or "no joke". "I'm deadass leaving at 6" means you really mean it. "Deadass?" asks "are you serious?".
Q02Is deadass New York slang?
Yes. Dictionary.com and Wiktionary both tie it to New York City, where it became common in the late 1990s and 2000s. Wiktionary also labels it African American Vernacular English.
Q03Is deadass a swear word?
It contains a mild one, so it's informal, but in casual speech and texting it's generally heard as emphasis rather than as swearing. Avoid it in formal settings.
Q04How old is deadass?
As an intensifier, older than you might think: Wiktionary cites "deadass tired" in John Rechy's 1963 novel City of Night. Its modern use as a one-word "seriously" grew in New York in the late 1990s and 2000s.