A High Understanding of Weed Terminology: The Many Sayings and Slang for Marijuana

Do you speak stoner?

There are more unique entries in the metaphorical marijuana dictionary than there are in many languages. That makes learning weed terminology seem like quite a daunting task. How can you learn every word for weed, and how can you do it without seeming like a square?

Truth be told, it is nearly impossible to learn all the words associated with marijuana, especially since so many new ones get added to the lexicon constantly. But you can certainly get up to speed without embarrassing yourself.

That is why we have assembled this guide. We want to help you learn as much marijuana slang as you can in the shortest amount of time. Read on for your weed word primer.

Weed Terminology Methodology
Before we begin, a note about our methods. We are focusing on casual and street slang here, not the technical side of marijuana. For the latter, you can check out Leafly’s excellent Cannabis 101 or the resources many hemp companies offer.

There is just no way to be totally comprehensive when it comes to weed lingo, so what follows are the most fun and funky words for marijuana that have infiltrated English. We will also give you some explanations and origins of these words.

Words for Weed
This is a humble sample of the many words for the plant and substance itself. You will find no paraphernalia or weed culture words here. This task alone was enough of an undertaking.

You could fill a multi-volume encyclopedia with every marijuana-related word, so we kept it simple. Now, let’s begin.

Bud
Marijuana is a plant, and the buds at the top contain highly concentrated psychoactive ingredients.

Dank
Good marijuana has a pungent aroma. In the weed world, “dank” is a good thing.

Flower
See the entry for “bud.” Calling marijuana “flower” is only natural, literally.

Ganja
This comes from the Hindi word for the buds of the hemp plant.

Loud
There are conflicting reports about “loud,” which refers to particularly potent weed. Some say it comes from the smell that announces its presence. Others say it refers to the volume of the inner monologue good weed inspires.

Nug
Short for “nugget,” this is another reference to the buds at the top of the plant.

Pot
It has nothing to do kitchenware. “Pot” is short for “potiguaya,” a Spanish word for the wine or brandy in which buds were steeped.

Reefer
This is another word with conflicting accounts. Traditional wisdom is that it refers to the Mexican Spanish word for marijuana, grifa. However, new discoveries from the Oxford English Dictionary suggest it might come from sailing terminology.

Weed
Finally, we come to the most classic marijuana slang term, used because of the plant’s ability to sprout up anywhere. It’s an example of taking a word with negative connotations and spinning it on its head.

Use Slang Responsibly
The plethora of weed terminology is one of the most fun parts of cannabis culture. We have only scratched the surface of weed’s linguistic contributions, and we hope we have inspired you to learn even more. Check out our other guides to jargon for even more fun.