A – C

• All Tea, No Shade: Truthful, without malice.
• Beat: To apply makeup flawlessly.
• Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent: Qualities RuPaul looks for in a drag superstar.
• Condragulations: Congratulations in drag speak.
• Cooking: Letting powder sit on the face to set the foundation.
• C.U.N.T.: An acronym for Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent.

D – F

• Death Drop: A dramatic dance move involving a high kick and a drop to the ground.
• Drag Mother: An experienced drag queen who acts as a mentor.
• Eleganza Extravaganza: A term used to describe over-the-top elegance.
• Fishy: A term used to describe a drag queen who looks extremely feminine.
• Gag: To be shocked or amazed.
• Henny: Honey, term of endearment.
• Kiki: A social gathering, usually for casual gossip.
• Lip Sync for Your Life: A performance to determine who stays in a drag competition.
• Mug: Face or makeup.
• No Tea, No Shade: No offense.
• Padding: Using foam or other materials to enhance body shape.
• Read: To humorously point out someone’s flaws.
• Realness: Authenticity; convincingly passing as a certain gender or social role.
• Sashay Away: To leave the stage, often used in elimination.
• Shantay You Stay: The phrase used to indicate a queen remains in the competition.
• Sickening: So fabulous it makes you sick; extremely good.
• Spilling the Tea: Sharing the gossip or the truth.
• Tuck: The act of concealing one’s male genitalia.
• Werk: To do something to the fullest; with flair.

G – I

• Gagging: Overwhelmed or speechless because of something fabulous.
• Glamazon: A glamorous, statuesque drag queen.
• Haus: A group or collective of drag performers.
• Iconic: Something that is legendary or highly memorable.
• Illusion: The art of a drag queen’s transformation.

J – L

• Jush: Your style or essence.
• KiKi: A party or gathering, often for gossiping.
• Library is Open: A phrase indicating that it’s time to start reading (humorously criticizing) each other.
• Lipsync Assassin: A queen known for their exceptional lip-syncing skills.

M – O

• Mopping: Slang for stealing.
• Nubia: The collective of queens of color, celebrating their culture and contributions to drag.
• Opulence: Wealth, affluence, abundance.
• Owning It: Fully embracing oneself or the moment.

P – R

• Pageant Queen: A drag queen who competes in pageants.
• Paint: To apply makeup.
• Purse First: Entering a room handbag first, a phrase popularized by Bob the Drag Queen.
• Reading: The act of humorously pointing out a person’s flaws.
• Realness: The ability to authentically embody a certain demographic or identity.
• Rupaulogize: To apologize, as in RuPaul’s Drag Race.

S – U

• Serving: Presenting a look or attitude.
• Shade: Subtle insult.
• Slay: To do something exceptionally well.
• Snatch Game: A parody of the Match Game where contestants impersonate celebrities.
• Tea: Truth, gossip.
• Trade: A masculine, attractive man, typically straight-acting.
• Untucked: Behind-the-scenes Drag Race show; also refers to relaxing or letting one’s guard down.

V – Z

• Vanity: A drag queen’s personal makeup area.
• Voguing: A highly stylized modern dance characterized by photo model-like poses, inspired by Vogue magazine.
• Yas Queen: An exclamation of support or excitement.
• Zhoosh: To adjust or fluff up, to add a bit of flair.