bruh

noun

(ˈ)brə 

plural bruhs

1

African American English : brother sense 1

The band, comprised of three sisters and their baby bruh Rufus on drums, is a fine act on the rise with intergenerational appeal.

—Kandia Crazy Horse

2

African American English : bro: such as

a

: a male friend

Tom tries to be the glue to the bruhs. He gives so much attention to his friends, he hasn't made time for much else …

—Alex McGaughey

b

—used as a friendly way of addressing a man or boy

Bruh, I just passed my exam!

Congrats to … Cedric Burnside on taking home the Grammy for "Best Traditional Blues Album". … Much love bruh.

—Alex Coleman

"I think I'm starting to understand that I'm a big guy," [Day'Ron] Sharpe [University of North Carolina basketball player] said. "I look at myself sometimes like, 'I'm not that big,' but then my teammates tell me, 'You big, bruh.' So I'm starting to realize that."

—Ryan Wilcox

… but while An Evening With Silk Sonic does feel like a complete body of work …, with only 8 songs (nah, bruh; intros don't count), it also feels like somebody barked, "Last call!" a little too soon.

—Jay Connor

c

usually Bruh plural Bruhs, African American English

—used as a title before a man's first name

Usage of Brer and Bruh

The words Brer and bruh both originated as written forms of a spoken alteration of the word brother that is used especially in southern African American English. Brer appears most commonly today in written versions of African American folktales (such as those popularized by Joel Chandler Harris), where it occurs as a capitalized title before a male character's first name.

"These are traditional African American folktales crossed with Cherokee and Creek folktales," says [Honorée Fanonne] Jeffers of The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus—a compilation of children's stories that detail the adventures of characters like Brer Rabbit and Brer Wolf.

—Tembe Denton-Hurst

… folktales with African roots, introducing Brers Fox, Rabbit, Wolf, and Bear.

—Judy Freeman

The word bruh is also sometimes used in this way.

The little animals held a sit-down talk, and one by one and two by two and all by all, they decide to go see Bruh Bear and Bruh Rabbit.

—Virginia Hamilton

Brer now rarely appears outside of such tales, but bruh has a range of current uses, including as a familiar form of address.

… I told my friend Jason in a conversation a few days later, "people think this is the dream." We both laughed. He shook his head from side to side three times, his locs touching his ears and his shoulders. "It ain't the dream, bruh," I said. "It ain't the dream."

—Danté Stewart

Examples of bruh in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And don't wait for nobody idea in the public to validate that, bruh. —Heran Mamo, Billboard, 23 Aug. 2021

What Jake Novak thought was just going to be a video calling for Saturday Night Live to consider him as a potential cast member spiraled into a viral hate campaign fueled by the secondhand embarrassment of watching someone earnestly rap the words weekly music videos are my jam, bruh. —Kate Lindsay, Vulture, 1 July 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined at sense 2