ode

In literature, an ode is a type of lyrical poem enthusiastically praising a person or event. The slang ode, pronounced [ oh-dee ], is an intensifying adverb meaning “really” or “very.”

How is ode pronounced?

What are other forms of ode?

odee

What are some other words related to ode?

• mad
• hella

The ancient Greeks can be thanked for the original ode, poems that exalted individuals, actions, or nature. Famous ode writers over the centuries include the Greek Pindar, the Roman Horace, and, in the English language, John Keats. The word ode, from a Greek word meaning “song” or “chant,” is recorded in English in the 1500s.

The word ode is often found in the construction ode to X, with X being the object of the poem or other artistic work’s praise.

The slang ode (or odee) emerged as a substitute for “really” or “very” by 2009. It appears to be a phonetic spelling of the acronym for overdose, OD, whose original sense was extended to the idea of doing something to an extreme extent, hence “really” or “very.”

Outside of more formal literature, art, and music, ode is used as a term for “heightened praise” more generally (e.g., an ode to cute animal pictures). Very often, the grand scale of ode is used this way in a humorous manner, praising more mundane objects, such as bathrobes or coffee, for the joy they give people in their everyday lives.

Ode to my bathrobe: Oh bathrobe, so cuddly and warm, so navy and so blue, how I love you.

— Al Baxter (@aebaxter) January 24, 2007

Ode for “very” is found in slang. It carries a sense of exaggeration, much like the slang mad or hella. Extremely tired? Ode tired. Extremely late? Ode late. Really into someone? Ode attracted.

Don’t y’all hate when you get yo hair done and ya forehead be looking ode big

— ꒒ꏂꇙꃳ꒐ꋬꋊ ꊰꋬ꒐ꋪꌦ ❁ (@LUVDREAM9) September 8, 2018

More examples of ode:

“An ode to Adventure Time, one of TV’s most ambitious—and yes, most adventurous, shows”

—Dan Schindel, Vox (headline), September 2018