This queer slang word was just added to the Cambridge Dictionary

A frequently used queer slang word has just been added to the Cambridge Dictionary, and no it’s not bussy, lipstick lesbian or twunk (though “twink” already exists in the dictionary).

A number of words lifted from the deepest crevices of social media have now been added to the dictionary, including “Delulu” and “Tradwife”.

Yet it’s the addition of the word “Lewk” that is most likely to prick up the ears of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Lewk” is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as a play on the word “Look”, referring to “a particular style, fashion or outfit, especially one that is unusual or impressive”.

A few examples of how the term is used, according to Cambridge Dictionary, are: “Your lewk is giving Barbie” and “It’s good to have a signature lewk.”

The term “Lewk” is often used in conjunction with the fellow queer slang term “serving”, with the phrase “serving lewks” meaning someone is showing off a particularly impressive outfit.

We're seeing double! 👯‍♀️

Who had your fave Drag Family Resemblance lewk? 👇 #AllStars10 pic.twitter.com/48BvCNbgAo

— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) May 17, 2025

“Lewks” originates from queer and drag subcultures, but was popularised in the 2010s both through the rise of social media and its related lexicon, and the advent of drag competition series RuPaul’s Drag Race, on which the contestants have to “serve lewks” every week on the runway.

The term has since been used frequently across other LGBTQ+ focussed reality TV series including America’s Next Top Model and Queer Eye, and is also used by brands on social media.

A going out LEWK! 💁‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/hIKq4wRlt2

— Queer Eye (@QueerEye) February 23, 2018

Prior to its pervasiveness on Drag Race, the term “lewk” was often used by style assistant Brad Goreski on the Bravo reality series The Rachel Zoe Project in the late noughties.

Goreski, who went on to become a judge on Drag Race spin-off series Canada’s Drag Race in 2020, told The New York Times in 2010: “A ‘lewk’ is like, ‘I’m wearing a lewk today,’ it’s something that everybody will notice. It’s like you’re out of the pages of a magazine, that’s a lewk.”

“Werk’ is a feeling. Like you werk your lewk. Like, was it werking? Was it happening, was it going on? A mayjor lewk is, like, above and beyond actual major.”

OWN your lewk! #ANTM pic.twitter.com/LG3bpxj8rg

— ANTM (@ANTMVH1) March 14, 2018

Alongside “Lewk”, the Cambridge Dictionary has added the term “Delulu”, which is often used on social media as a short for “Delusional”. The Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese went viral earlier this year for using the term while in Parliament, describing his opposition as “delulu with no solulu”.

Other abbreviated terms to be added to the Cambridge Dictionary include “inspo”, which is short for inspiration, and “Tradwife”, short for “Traditional wife”.

The latter term is controversial on social media as it is used to represent men and women who showcase themselves adopting stereotypical gender roles in their relationship, with “tradwives” often staying home to look after children, cooking and cleaning.

“Work wife” has also been added to the dictionary, with the term used to describe someone in the workplace who you get on well with and trust in the way you do a life partner. 

“Skibidi”, a nonsense word that can be good or bad or nothing at all, has also been added, after first being used by viral YouTube video “Skibidi Toilet” and further popularised by Kim Kardashian.

“Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary,” said the Cambridge Dictionary’s lexical programme manager, Colin McIntosh, in a statement to The Guardian.

“It’s not every day you get to see words like ‘skibidi’ and ‘delulu’ make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary. We only add words where we think they’ll have staying power.”

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