shade
nounInformal
A American English slang term. Browse all American slang.
What it means
A subtle, deniable insult. Throwing shade is criticising someone obliquely enough that they cannot easily object.
In use
She threw so much shade in that speech.
No shade, but the first draft was better.
Where it comes from
From Black and Latino ballroom culture in 1980s New York, documented in the film Paris Is Burning. Shade is distinguished from 'reading' by its indirectness — the art is in the deniability.
First attested: 1980s