slay
Americanverb (used with object)
-
slays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slayed,
past participle, past
-
slew,
past
-
slain,
past participle
-
slaying
present participle
-
to kill by violence.
In this game, your goal is to slay the evil dragon and take his hoard.
- Synonyms:
- assassinate, butcher, massacre, slaughter, murder
-
to destroy; extinguish.
Together we are slaying our self-doubt and working towards our dreams.
- Synonyms:
- ruin, annihilate
-
Slang.
-
to impress strongly and favorably; overwhelm, especially by humor.
Your jokes slay me.
-
to make a strong favorable impression with.
She really slayed her performance last night.
-
-
sley.
-
Obsolete. to strike.
verb (used without object)
-
slays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slayed,
past participle, past
-
slew,
past
-
slain,
past participle
-
slaying
present participle
-
to kill or murder.
-
Slang. to have a strong favorable effect; to be remarkably impressive.
His whole album slays.
noun
idioms
verb
-
archaic to kill, esp violently
-
slang to impress (someone) sexually
-
obsolete to strike
Usage
What else does slay mean? Slay can mean "to kill a person or animal," "to make someone laugh," "to have sex with someone," or "to do something spectacularly well," especially when it comes to fashion, artistic performance, or self-confidence.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
slaysimple
-
slayssimple
-
have slainperfect
-
have slayedperfect
-
has slainperfect
-
has slayedperfect
-
am slayingprogressive
-
are slayingprogressive
-
is slayingprogressive
-
have been slayingperfect progressive
-
has been slayingperfect progressive
Past
-
slayedsimple
-
slewsimple
-
had slainperfect
-
had slayedperfect
-
was slayingprogressive
-
were slayingprogressive
-
had been slayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slay
First recorded before 900; Middle English sleen, slayn, Old English slēan; cognate with Dutch slaan, German schlagen, Old Norse slā, Gothic slahan “to strike, beat”
Explanation
Slay means to kill in a violent way. It has a mythic quality. You might slay the red knight. You might slay the dragon. You might slay the demon. But you probably wouldn't slay an annoying mosquito. Slay is an old word associated with knights and dragons. Like many old words it has some funky forms. When you killed someone or something in the past you say slew, as in "St. George slew the dragon." When you've already done it, you say you have slain.
Vocabulary lists containing slay
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act IV
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"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
See: Warsh says he’s determined to slay inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
“My friend Chrissie is a champion of champions and as such she will slay this monster again,” Navratilova wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
"My friend Chrissie is a champion of champions and as such she will slay this monster again," said long-time rival and friend Martina Navratilova.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
In the process, they demonstrated the blueprint that shows why they might be better equipped than any other team in the sport to slay the mighty Dodgers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025
In her imaginary world of Mariposa, Natalie had turned the ugly, monstrous pythons into dragons and sent brave knights out to slay them.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
If Evil-Lyn can stop Adam with a freeze-ray, why does she wait until he slays many of her colleagues to do so?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Powell slays a dragon, he listens to Van Halen, he quotes William Wallace, and carves a self-portrait out of a tree.
From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2025
Now as “Shōgun’s” Lord Toranaga, the Japanese martial arts star has room to stretch beyond impressive swordfighting scenes … and he slays.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2024
It's about David, the shepherd boy who battles the giant Goliath, and against the odds, slays him.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2024
"It is the sword that slays the season," he replied, and soon after the white raven came from Oldtown bringing word of autumn, so doubtless he was right.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
It all depended on what Laurie wore to kindergarten that day or whether Libby was sporting a ponytail, which slayed me every time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025
Moderates are taking the proposal in stride, declaring victory after having slayed the sort of overhauls that Roy and others were pushing for.
From Slate ● May 13, 2025
The extent to which Glaser slayed her part cannot be overstated.
From Salon ● Jan. 6, 2025
"We literally ran from the Radisson Red, there were no soundchecks and Daniel went on and just absolutely slayed the audience. He was just sensational," he said.
From BBC ● May 6, 2024
The king promised a princess’s hand in marriage to whoever slayed the dragon.
From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart
Tropical Storm Rachel is expected to make landfall either in northern Baja California or San Diego County as early as Saturday night, bringing with it a slew of potential hazards, including damaging coastal flooding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
Because cortisol is something that can be fairly easily and quantifiably measured, and research shows that high cortisol can be a feature of a slew of problems, it’s an appealing candidate.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
The buzz has also spawned a slew of similar offerings, both open-source models and tools from established companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
That should help SpaceX test a slew of improvements to Starship and its Super Heavy booster, setting up what the company called the “next phase” of making the rocket fully reusable.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
They came running or hopping into the church, carrying the same heavy spears they would use later in the week to slew the animals.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Last week, the county Board of Supervisors voted to rename a section of Avenue Q in Palmdale in honor of the slain deputy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Andrew Montlake, chief executive of mortgage broker Coreco, said that the latest data showed that "the inflation dragon has not been fully slain".
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Mourners dressed in black gathered on Sunday in the pavilion of Wat Lat Pla Duk in Nonthaburi province, bordering Bangkok, where the body of the slain schoolgirl, Naphat Chaima, lay for a ceremonial bath.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
“Princess Mononoke” begins with a worm-covered demon attacking a pastoral village, only to be slain by its prince, Ashitaka.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
But with both Robert and his brother Renly slain, everything was changed.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Bryan’s character is a big part of the movie’s appeal; he’s a scruffy, discombobulated everyman who figures out solutions on the fly, not a boringly cool and composed slaying machine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
On Dec. 23, 1996, the Los Angeles Times published a terse and callous article about the young man’s slaying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Her slaying shocked the world and put Malta, the European Union's smallest member state, in the spotlight over its apparent rule-of-law failings.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
The big break came 10 days after the slaying, when a veteran Hollywood stuntman, Gary McLarty, whose industry nickname was “Whiz Kid,” limped into the LAPD’s North Hollywood station.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
On his way to Atlas to ask him about the Golden Apples, Hercules came to the Caucasus, where he freed Prometheus, slaying the eagle that preyed on him.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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