Throwing shade
Etymology
From Black and Latino LGBTQ ballroom and drag culture, documented in the 1990 film Paris Is Burning, where Dorian Corey famously explained shade as an evolution of “reading” — insult so refined it needs no direct statement. It entered mainstream slang through drag culture’s wider spread.
phrase · /THROH-ing SHAYD/
Expressing subtle, veiled contempt or a disguised insult — often without naming the target directly.
What it names
It names disrespect delivered obliquely, so the contempt is unmistakable but never quite stated outright, leaving the target little to grab onto. The art of shade is deniability: the insult lands while the speaker keeps clean hands.
Example
Saying she “admires people who peaked in high school” was some expert shade.
Related idea
More veiled than a clapback, which is an open retort; shade works precisely by not being said outright.