hyphy

English

Alternative forms

• hyphe, hyphee, hyphie

Etymology

Probably an alteration of hype or hyper. American rapper Keak da Sneak is sometimes credited as coining the word in the 1990s, but no evidence exists to support this and the term is first attested in 2002.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaɪfiː/
• Rhymes: -aɪfi

Adjective

hyphy (comparative hyphier, superlative hyphiest)

1. (slang) Rambunctious, loud, crazy, dangerous, irrational, and outrageous in behavior.

   She was so hyphy outside the club Saturday night, she nearly punched a cop!

2. (music) Of or relating to the hyphy music subgenre or culture.
   • 2006, Andrea Schulte-Peevers et al., California, Lonely Planet Publications, →ISBN, page 46:

     Oakland is the place to look for 'hyphy' (hyperactive) New Bay hip-hop, while SoCal is still riding the 'crunk' (crazy-drunk) drum and bass beats with […]

Noun

hyphy (uncountable)

1. (music) A subgenre of hip-hop music and dancing associated with the San Francisco Bay Area.
   • 2009, Mickey Hess, editor, Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide, volume 1, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 281:

     It was Oakland rapper Keak Da Sneak who claims to have invented the term: upon being told by his mother that he was “hyperactive”, Keak repeated the term as “hyphy”. Since then, hyphy has come to refer to a complex group of cultural activities synonymous with Oakland: it is at once a sound, a behavior, a choice in recreational drugs.

Further reading

• Rick Ayers (2004) Berkeley High School Slang Dictionary, Berkeley High School, page 38: “Heify also hyphy (HI fee) adj., Angry, agitated. When somebody lets their adrenaline pump them up too much, they go off or get loud and crazy, uncontrollable, […]”
• “hyphy adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
• hyphy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia