Noun
vibe (plural vibes)
- (plural only, colloquial) A vibraphone. [earlier 20th c.]
- (informal) Vibration. [later 20th c.]
- (informal) A vibrator (sex toy). [later 20th c.]
- (informal, originally New Age jargon, often in the plural) An atmosphere or aura felt to belong to a person, place or thing. [c. 1960s]
The couple canceled their night out when they got a bad vibe from the new babysitter.
1998, John Harris, No voice from the hall, John Murray, →ISBN, page 176:As I passed the stables and thanked the caretaker, I sensed nasty vibes. It was time to go.
2014 July 7, Pat Simmons, Guilty of Love, Generation Quest Press:I like her. I get good vibes from her.
2016 May 24, Matt de la Peña, The Hunted, Ember, →ISBN, page 150:This place is giving me bad vibes.
2022 September 7, Elizabeth Wagmeister, “Can Kelly Clarkson Save Daytime? The Host on Taking Over Ellen’s Spot, Touring Again and Broadway Dreams”, in Variety:I have no problem with nudity. I'm, like, a total nudist. But that's just not my vibe, artistry-wise. A little mystery goes a long way for me.
- (informal, preceded by the) Something that is good, trendy, pleasant, or atmospheric; a thing or person with a good vibe.
2022 January 3, Erin Crabtree, “‘The Bachelor’ Premiere Recap: Clayton Echard Has 1st Rose Rejected as Salley Quits Before Night 1”, in Us Weekly:Once inside, Clayton wasted no time testing his chemistry with the women, kissing Teddi, Kira, Eliza, Cassidy and Rachel. However, not all of his relationships were so easy — Claire announced to the other contestants that her one-on-one time with Clayton was “not the vibe,” noting that he was too nice for her.
2022 October 27, Paloma Torres, quoting Potentially Petty/Hot Person, “Advice Column: Am I becoming hotter or just pettier? Paloma Torres answers the age-old question constantly on everyone's minds”, in The Eyeopener, volume 56, number 7, page 3:I’ve noticed my attitude just hasn’t been the vibe lately. Yesterday I totally lost it at a restaurant because my pasta was only 18 C, which is two degrees below normal room temperature—like two degrees! How could they?
2023 March 21, Logan Murdock, “Jaylen Brown Is Trying to Find a Balance”, in The Ringer:“I didn’t know how to feel. I was a little bit shocked, to be honest,” Brown says. “It was not the vibe, you know what I mean? That’s the way I always describe it. It was not good vibes.”
2023 March 28, Elizabeth Lopatto, “How much money do we think Substack lost last year?”, in The Verge:Substack certainly knows this. It tried to raise last year, seeking $75 million to $100 million from investors. But it had revenue of only $9 million in 2021, and a sky-high valuation on relatively little revenue was not the vibe in 2022. The company gave up.
Translations
atmosphere or aura
- Dutch: vibraties (nl)
- Esperanto: etoso
- Finnish: fiilis (fi) (colloquial), vibat (fi) pl, tuntemus (fi)
- French: vibe (fr), aura (fr) f
- German: Vibe (de) m
- Italian: atmosfera (it) f
- Korean: 분위기 (ko) (bunwigi)
- Macedonian: а́ура f (áura), атмосфе́ра (mk) f (atmosféra), чу́вство n (čúvstvo)
- Portuguese: vibração (pt) (Brasil), astral (pt) m
- Russian: атмосфе́ра (ru) f (atmosféra), а́ура (ru) f (áura), ва́йб (ru) m (vájb) (slang)
- Serbo-Croatian: vibra (sh) f
- Slovak: vajb m (slang), atmosféra (sk) f, aura f
- Spanish: onda (es) f, vibra (es) f, rollo (es) m (informal)
- Swedish: vibb (sv) c
- Turkish: ortam (tr)
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Verb
vibe (third-person singular simple present vibes, present participle vibing, simple past and past participle vibed)
- (transitive, colloquial) To stimulate with a vibrator.
2015, Allison Moon, Girl Sex 101, page 49:If your usual routine is hammering or vibing your clit for three minutes before you run out the door, try giving yourself five minutes of exploratory time.
- (intransitive, colloquial) To relax and enjoy oneself.
- (intransitive, colloquial) To agree.
2000 November, Vibe, volume 8, page 60:Besides, even if you don't vibe with his subject matter, he is a style king of West Coast, down-tempo gangsta-pimp music.
2012, Sam Hunter, Book One: A Makaveli Prince's Novel:Nia was glad she'd let Rico bring her to the club as she vibed with the fusion of Latin sounds and American hip-hop.
2015, Tony Cavanaugh, Kingdom of the Strong:Maria took him through the events of the next morning and his recollection vibed with his statement at the time.
- (intransitive, colloquial, with with) To get along; to hit it off.
2012, Nikki Carter, Time to Shine, page 9:Sam started out being someone I totally vibed with on every level.
2014, Mandy Hale, I've Never Been to Vegas, but My Luggage Has:Nervous and shaky but feigning confidence, I completed the interview with ease and even managed to vibe with the country cutie.
2016, Steven Barker, Now for the Disappointing Part: A Pseudo-Adult's Decade of Short-Term Jobs:It was odd, because there was always one person I didn't vibe with in every office I spent time in, sometimes multiple people like in the case with Amazon.
- (transitive, colloquial) To feel in agreement with; to appreciate.
2014, Catherine Tukes, Hannah's Song, page 57:He was quoting scriptures and stuff from the bible to me and I actually was vibing it, but I know I'm not down with the whole church thing […]
- (transitive, colloquial, jazz) To treat (a fellow performer) in a condescending or insulting manner, typically during a performance or jam session, to signal to them that they are not up to snuff.
Further reading
- “vibe”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈvajb/ [ˈvaɪ̯b], /ˈvaj.bi/ [ˈvaɪ̯.bi]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈvajb/ [ˈvaɪ̯b], /ˈvaj.be/ [ˈvaɪ̯.be]