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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
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 26 May 2025
Jail and the blues would come in time, but in 1995 the kid from Paola, Kansas, was riding high in Los Angeles.
—Dan Kelly, Kansas City Star, 25 May 2025
Abby Wolner, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 May 2025
There are lots of affordable kid wagons out there; most are fine for toting kiddos and gear short distances on smooth surfaces, but many of them are a pain to pull when fully loaded down, and uncomfortable for the little ones riding in them.
—Jenny Wiegand, Outside Online, 25 Apr. 2025
Rachel Flynn, People.com, 20 May 2025
But just kidding, actually $14 'cuz the orange tags were 50 percent off.
—Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 May 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 8 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
kid
2 of 2 verb
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