Australian Slang For Awesome (9 Examples!)

Australian English is in many ways one of the most subtly bombastic of all regional English dialects.

Whether that’s a reality or simply a perception of the somewhat more muted British and American English speakers, one thing that Australians do excel at is slang words for something that is extremely good.

Today, we’re going to look at some of the best and most common Australian slang terms for awesome.

Let’s get started.

In This Article

Ripper

To start with one you may be more familiar with in more macabre settings, such as the famous Jack the Ripper, but Australians have reclaimed this term to mean something good.

In particular, this one is usually used to describe experiences.

For example, you might return from a holiday to say “That was a proper ripper!” if you had a really good time.

Obviously, the term itself is far older than this usage of it, but in fact it was used in a similar way in the UK since as far back as the 18^th Century.

Here it also just meant something excellent or very good.

Our earliest written records of its usage in this way in Australia date to the 1970s, though given its much older origin in British slang, oral usage is probably far older than this.

Ripsnorter

This one probably sounds uniquely strange to a non-Australian English speaker.

But it follows on directly from the term ‘ripper’ and has come to mean largel6y the same thing.

It too is used as a noun rather than an adjective, so you might say an experience was a ‘real ripsnorter’.

The origin of this word is shrouded in a lot of legend, as it is claimed it was originally coined by Davy Crockett in rural America.

Again, it may well have entered the Australian lexicon as far back as the 1800s, where British English employed many terms such as ‘rip-roaring’ to mean excellent or full of spirit.

It seems to have been in widespread use by the end of the 20^th Century, though again its oral use is likely far older than this.

Sweet as

This one can often sound quite strange to the ears of an American English speaker.

But phrases like this are quite common in UK and Australian English, and ‘sweet as’ is certainly one of the most common.

It simply means that something is very good. But you might be wondering ‘sweet as what?’

Well, the idea is simply that its as sweet or as good as it could be.

Sweet as anything.

This is one that many Australians no doubt say almost subconsciously—it’s just a very natural way of saying something is very good.

It’s again difficult to track the origin of such a phrase with much precision, but it most likely an elliptical form of ‘sweet as hell’ which would have been common in Hollywood movies in the middle of the 20^th Century.

Sick/sick as

Following on from that last one, we have sick, often expressed as ‘sick as’.

Sick again is a really common slang term for awesome which you can likely find in just about any nation of English speakers.

Its original origin seems to have been in black jazz slang in the 1920s, until it was noted in a US newspaper only as recently as 1995.

From there, it exploded in popularity and usage, and has become one of the most commonly used slang terms for good among the younger generations.

It has since spread just about everywhere, including Australia.

You may also hear “sick as” too, which is much the same as “sweet as.”

You could use it in all sorts of contexts, like “That movie was sick!” or “That movie was sick as!”

Beaut/beauty

Some slang is much easier to understand than others, and this is certainly the case with beaut.

This is one of the most widely used slang terms for good in Australia and is used across generations and across time.

It’s obviously a simple shortening of “beautiful”, and while the term “beauty” is a proper term in itself, its slang usage is slightly different.

Given the human tendency to shorten words for slang, it’s virtually impossible to say with any certainty where and when this slang term originated.

The word itself has its origins in medieval French and entered the English lexicon shortly thereafter.

“You beauty,” an Australian might say if you do something nice for them.

Bonza/bonzer

This is doubtless the quintessential Australian slang term for awesome.

It’s one you certainly won’t hear anywhere else, and it has that uniquely Australian quality of a sharp upward intonation at the end.

Despite how closely associated with the Australian lexicon this term is, its origin is also not precisely known.

There are, though, multiple theories.

The most likely is that it was simply an alteration of the term “bonanza”, a British term meaning a sort of frenzy.

It’s been in use since at least the early 20^th Century, and no doubt much further back than that ultimately.

Dope

This one is another one with hugely varied potential origins, and which has been used mostly in American English up until a certain point.

However, it definitely is in use in Australia just as much as anywhere else today.

There are many different ways that it has been used over time so, again, it becomes increasingly difficult to say for certain where it originated.

It was perhaps most widely used in rap culture of the 80s and 90s in the US, and from there spread to mean awesome in Australia too. “That outfit is dope,” for example.

But dope can also mean drugs, so it’s meaning has certainly become confused over time.

Good on ya

Saying good on ya is a really simple and effective slang term for saying you’re pleased with something they’ve done, and that what they did was awesome.

It is most commonly associated with Australian slang today, where it is most wide usage. After someone got a new job, for instance, you might say “good on ya!”

It may well have its origins in Celtic, though, where we find the phrase “maith thu”, which means “good to you”.

“Good on ya” is also used in Irish, so this could explain its origin through Irish immigrants in the country.

Deadly

Finally, we have another very uniquely Australian slang term.

“Deadly” is a really common term for awesome, though it is perhaps most commonly used to mean particularly good looking—“she looks deadly tonight,” for instance.

It seems to have been originally coined in the 1900s, potentially in Irish, and later adopted sometime before the 1970s by Aboriginals.

From there, it spread throughout the country until today.

So, if you hear someone say something is deadly—don’t worry, they mean awesome!

Australians are not short on ways to address things they think are awesome, then.

One word from this list might be more appropriate than another in a given context, but they are all ways of addressing something as awesome in one way or another.

If you spend any amount of time down under, you’re bound to hear someone use at least one of these terms.

More in Australian Slang

Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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