Discover British slang words beginning with E in this alphabetical dictionary, packed with meanings, variations and colourful expressions. It’s a snapshot of how the English language is used informally across the UK, past and present.
| E | Noun. Abbr. of 'ecstasy', the drug. |
| eager-beaver | Noun. An enthusiastic person. |
| earache | Noun. Incessant complaining or talking. |
| ear bash | Verb. To talk incessently. E.g."She was ear bashing me all the way through the meal - I think the onset of indegestion was my body saying to skip dessert and get away." |
| ear-bashing | Noun. A severe verbal reprimand, a lengthy scolding. Also as earbashing. E.g."She gave me a real ear bashing for embarrassing her in front of her friends." |
| ear-bending | Noun. A long, tedious, or scolding lecture or talk. See 'bend someone's ear'. |
| earful | Noun. Enough of hearing something or someone. E.g."I've had an earful of you, moaning on about how poor you are when I know you've got money saved in the bank." |
| (it's) early days | Phrs. (It's) too soon to know whether a situation is correct or how things will turn out. E.g."It's early days. We can't possibly know if the war in Iraq will change the country for the better." [Informal] |
| early doors | Adj. Early, at the beginning, premature. E.g."She knew early doors that the relationship wouldn't last more than a year." Noun. An early alcoholic drink at a bar or pub. E.g."Friday, beginning of the weekend, we always go for an early doors." |
| earner | Noun. A profitable job or activity. Freq. in nice little earner, meaning an easy, quick or illicit profit. |
| Eartha (Kitt) * | Noun. 1. An act of defecation. Also as not give an Eartha Kitt, 'not give a shit'. 2. Excrement. * rhyming slang on 'shit'. Eartha Kitt, American singer. |
| earwig | Verb. To eavesdrop. E.g."If you heard things said about you that you didn't like, then you shouldn't be earwigging into conversations." |
| easy | Adj. Sexually consenting with little encouragement. |
| easy-peasy | Adj. Very easy, extremely simple. Freq. as an interjection. Usually a children's expression. Also extended as easy-peasy, lemon squeezy. |
| easy pink | Noun. Vaginal sex. Expression often used in conjunction with the terms difficult brown or tight brown, referring to anal sex. Euphemistic and referencing the game of snooker. |
| easy touch | Noun. A person easily exploited or manipulated, often financially. |
| eat | Verb. A euphemism for fellatio or cunnilingus, oral sex. |
| eating irons | Noun. Cutlery. |
| eat out | Verb. To perform cunnilingus. |
| eats | Noun. Food. {Informal} |
| eat shit (!) | Verb. To stoop to being degraded or embarrassed, showing excessive servility or sycophancy. Freq. used in the imperative as a dismissive retort or insult. [Orig. U.S.] |
| eat the head off (someone) | Vrb phrs. To verbally attack (someone), to tell off (someone), to speak sharply (to someone). [Irish use] |
| 'eck as like | Exclam. Used as a denial in phrases such as "did I eck as like!", "will he eck as like!" etc. Actually stands for 'heck as like'. [Midlands/Northern use] |
| ecky | Noun. The drug MDMA. Abbr. form of 'ecstasy'. |
| ecky thump! | Exclam. An exclamation of surprise or shock. Often used to mock the Northern dialects of Lancashire and Yorkshire. |
| eco-warrior | Noun. An individual dedicated to defending the environment, especially through activism, demonstrations, and hands-on efforts to prevent environmental harm. {Informal} [1980s] |
| ecstasy | Noun. The drug MDMA. Popular in Britain from the late 1980s and was essential in the early development of the British House and Techno music and club scene. |
| eddress | Noun. An electronic address, such as an email address. [1996?] |
| E'd up | Adj. Intoxicated by the drug MDMA. |
| ee bah gum! | Exclam. Expressing surprise, delight or wonderment. Mimicked by many as the archetypal Yorkshire phrase. Also as ee by gum. [Yorks/Lincs/Lancs use. Dialect] |
| eejit | Noun. An idiot. Anglo-Irish pronunciation of idiot. [Dialect] |
| eek! | Exclam. Expressing surprise, fright or alarm. Freq. humourous. E.g."Eek! I've just eaten a full day's calories before lunch - there goes my diet." {Informal} |
| eff all | Noun. A euphemism for 'fuck-all'. |
| effing | Adj./Adv. A general intensifier and euphemism for 'fucking'. |
| effing and blinding | Noun. Swearing, using profanities and strong offensive language. See 'effing'. E.g."I've never seen him so angry, effing and blinding in front of those children - and he's a vicar!" |
| effing and jeffing | Noun. Swearing and using strong language. Cf. 'effing and blinding'. |
| eff off (!) | Verb./Exclam. Go away, leave me alone. Euphemism for 'fuck off!'. Freq. as an exclamation. |
| egg (and spoon) | Noun. A black person. Cockney rhyming slang on 'coon'. Derog./Offens. |
| egg banjo | Noun. A fried egg sandwich. See 'banjo' (noun). [Orig. military use?] |
| egg chasers | Noun. Rugby players. From the egg shaped ball. Derog. |
| egghead | Noun. 1. An intelligent person, an intellectual. {Informal} 2. A bald person. Derog. |
| egg on one's chin | Phrs. See 'have egg on one's chin' |
| eggy | Adj. Slightly annoyed, irritated. |
| Egyptian P.T. | Noun. Sleep, rest. P.T. an abbr. of physical training. [Mainly military use] |
| E-head | Noun. A frequent or heavy user of the drug MDMA. The E being an abbreviation of 'ecstasy'. Cf. 'pot-head' and 'smackhead'. |
| eh up! | Exclam. Hello. An informal greeting similar to hi or alright. Cf. 'ay-up'. |
| elbow-bending | Noun. A drinking session, drinking alcohol. Also as elbow-bender. E.g."His idea of cardio is some vigorous elbow-bending during happy hour!" [Early 1900s] |
| elbow grease | Noun. Manual hard work, physical effort. E.g."We'll never get this job finished on time unless you put some elbow grease into it." |
| elephant's (trunk) | Adj. Drunk, intoxicated with alcohol. Rhyming slang on drunk. E.g."On my God, was I elephants last night! I tried to unlock the door with a slice of pizza." |
| elevenses | Noun. A mid to late morning drink, approximately taken at 11 o'clock. {Informal} |
| Emma (Freud) | Noun. Haemorrhoid. Rhyming slang, but usually in the plural. Emma Freud broadcaster, writer, and daughter of Sir Clement Freud. E.g."I'd rather stand if that's Ok? My Emmas are bothering me." |
| emmet | Noun. A tourist, a holidaymaker. Emmet, meaning ant and expressing annoyance and frustration at the large number of visitors to the county, especially during the summer months, when their presence is seen as a hinderence to the locals. Derog. [Cornish/ South-west use] |
| emo | Adj. Emotional. Noun. Of or belonging to a genre of emotional rock music. [Orig. U.S.] |
| end of! | Exclam. Said to emphasize that there is no more to add on the subject just discussed. E.g."If you don't wear a face mask during this pandemic, you're part of the problem. End of!" {Informal} |
| endz | Noun. A neighbourhood or local area, and typically somewhere a person identifies as their territory. Also as ends. E.g."What endz you from? I'm from Canning Town" [Mainly London. Black use] |
| epic | Adj. Remarkable, outstanding, excellent. [Orig. U.S.] |
| eppy | Noun. A tantrum, a furious fit of anger. Abbr. form of epileptic fit. Also as eppie. Freq. in expressions 'throw an eppy' or 'have an eppy'. |
| erk | Noun. An insignificant person, and general term of contempt. [Orig. military use] |
| Essex girl | Noun. Stereotypically describing a female supposedly from the county of Essex. Characteristics may include being working class, low intelligence, sexually promiscuous, fashion conscious, heavily drinking and confident. Derog. |
| evatch | Verb. To have. Backslang. |
| evils | Noun. A hateful look. Popularized by the character named Vicky Pollard in the British comedy TV series Little Britain. E.g."Stop giving me the evils, you're scaring me." [2003] |
| exactamundo (!) | Adj./Exclam. Exactly right, correct. Also as exactimundo and exactomundo. See '-amundo'. [Orig. U.S.] |
| expat | Noun. A person who lives outside their native country. Abbr. of expatriate. {Informal} |
| expenny | Adj. Expensive, costly. Cf. 'spenny'. |
| exsqueeze me! | Exclam. Excuse me! Humourous use. {Informal} |
| extract the Michael | Vrb phrs. To tease or ridicule. A play on words, derived from 'take the Mickey'. E.g."If he doesn't stop extracting the Michael I'll report him to the manager." |
| extract the urine | Vrb phrs. Meaning the same as 'extract the Michael', a pun on 'take the piss'. |
| eyeball | Verb. A see, to notice, to visually investigate. E.g."Once we'd eyeballed who had the gun, we knew who was the danger and focussed our energies on taking him out." |
| eyeful | Noun. A long or full look. E.g."Get an eyeful of that idiot on the dancefloor." {Informal} |
| eyes like a shithouse rat | Phrs. Describing a person with very sharp, observant eyesight. See 'shithouse rat' |
| eyes like piss holes in the snow | Phrs. 1. Tired, deep sunken eyes. 2. Small eyes. |
| eyes on | Phrs. Seen, spotted, visually located. Typically used in the military, law enforcement, security, avaition and emergency services. {Informal} |
| Eyetie | Noun. An Italian. E.g."I love visiting Rome - it's a beautiful city and the Eyeties are so friendly." Offens. |