Entry · catalog no. 8840
beat
/ /biːt/ /BEET
adjective · Harlem ballroom · nationwide · 1980s
✓ Verified
1.
Of makeup: expertly and completely applied, flawless. A beat face is one painted with total command. To beat one's face is to do it that well.
“Her face was beat before she ever stepped near the runway.”
Origin & Attribution
Ballroom and drag vernacular from the Black and Latino queer scene of New York, where to beat a face meant to paint it to perfection. Carried from the Paris Is Burning era into wide use decades later through drag culture.
1990
Paris Is Burning documents the term in ball culture
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Harlem ballroom · nationwide · 1980s
Spoken by
Black and Latino ballroom and drag communities; widely used now
$BEATThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady46 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
65/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1980
in the culture
Recorded here
2026
point of first record
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Paris Is Burning — documentary · 1990
submitted
■
+ Cite a sourceBall culture / drag terminology — reference
submitted
See also