gas up

What it means

To "gas someone up" is Gen-Z slang for hyping them up with genuine compliments and encouragement. Unlike empty flattery, gassing someone up is meant to actually boost their confidence — often used between friends before something stressful.

Words like “gas up” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.

Examples

• My friends gassed me up before the interview, felt unstoppable.
• Gas up your bestie, she needs the confidence today.
• He's always gassing me up, best hype man ever.
• We gassed her up so hard she finally posted the pic.

Where it comes from

Rooted in AAVE, where 'gas' signals hype or energy, the phrase spread through hip-hop and social media as a term for boosting someone's confidence.

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