Entry · catalog no. 0949
vibe
/ — /pending
noun · nationwide · 2026
✓ Verified
1.
The emotional atmosphere a person, place, or thing gives off; the mood you instinctively pick up on.
“I had to leave the party — the vibe was off.”
Origin & Attribution
From 'vibration.' Carried into everyday speech by Black jazz, soul, and funk musicians and then by hip-hop, decades before it was recast as new internet or Gen Z slang.
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
nationwide · 2026
Spoken by
nationwide
$VIBEThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Rising0 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
12/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
2026
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
■
Roy Ayers — "Vibrations," album · 1976
submitted
■
+ Cite a sourceVIBE Magazine — founded by Quincy Jones · 1993
submitted
See also