phat

The term derives from African American Vernacular English as a deliberate misspelling of the word fat.

• IPA^(key): /fæt/

• Audio (AU)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -æt

phat (comparative phatter, superlative phattest)

1. (slang, originally African-American Vernacular) Excellent; cool; very good.

   Synonyms: cool, excellent, fab; see also Thesaurus:excellent

   • 1994, “One Time 4 Your Mind”, in Illmatic, performed by Nas:

     Aiyyo, Nas? Fuck that, man, that shit was phat / But kick that for them gangstas, man, fuck all that!

   • 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 52:

     We saw the kind of life bailers and hustlers were living. The women, the flamboyant cars, the phat mansions, the mad platinum jewelry.

2. (slang) Voluptuous

   Synonyms: foxy, thicc; see also Thesaurus:sexy

3. (slang, music) Rich in texture; prominent.

   Synonyms: prominent, (slang) rocking, juicy

   The song has a phat bass line.

• -path, Ptah, path, path-

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /pʰat/

phat (Perso-Arabic spelling پھت)

1. suddenly

• Liljegren, Henrik, Haider, Naseem (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎, Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

From Proto-Chamic *phaːt, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *paqət.

phat

1. (transitive) to chisel

• James A. Tharp, Y-Bhăm Ƀuôn-yǎ (1980) A Rhade-English Dictionary with English-Rhade Finderlist (Pacific Linguistics. Series C-58)‎, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, →ISBN, archived from the original on 1 November 2021, page 103