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Is the word kid slang?
Some people worry that kid, when used of a child rather than a juvenile goat, is either slang or too colloquial to merit acceptance in standard English.
The fact is that we have been using kid to refer to a child that is human, rather than goatish, for more than three hundred years now. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that although this word was considered “low slang” when it first began being used, it had entered “familiar speech” by the 19th century.
In contemporary English, kid is neither slang nor improper. It is, however, most definitely informal, so those writing professionally or in a formal register might prefer to use child.
Examples of kid in a Sentence
Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 1 May 2025
The trend, like so many before it, is exactly what kids love the most.
—Annabelle Canela, Parents, 1 May 2025
Bruce Handy, The Atlantic, 16 Apr. 2025
Ron Howard is proud of his kid brother Clint, who recently had a guest run on the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful as down-and-out musician Tom Starr.
—Lizzie Hyman, People.com, 5 Apr. 2025
Martha Ross, Mercury News, 29 Apr. 2025
All kidding aside, McQuillan has been impressed by Fernandez this season.
—Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for kid
Cite this Entry
“Kid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kid. Accessed 7 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
kid
2 of 2 verb
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