Throw Shade

/THROH shayd/

verb phrase

Meaning

To express contempt, criticism, or ridicule without stating the insult outright. Throwing shade can involve a pointed remark, backhanded compliment, facial expression, deliberate omission, or other signal whose target and meaning are understood from context.

1. To make a subtle or indirect insulting remark about someone.
2. To communicate disrespect nonverbally through a look, gesture, tone, or deliberate snub.
3. More broadly, to mock or criticize someone publicly, even when the attack is fairly obvious.

Examples

“Not to throw shade, but that logo looks unfinished.”

“She can throw shade with one raised eyebrow.”

“That caption seems designed to throw shade at his copycat post.”

“You can dislike the pitch without using the meeting to throw shade at the whole team.”

Origin and spread

The modern slang expression throw shade is associated with New York City’s Black and Latino LGBTQ+ ballroom culture. In ballroom usage, shade was closely connected to reading: rather than delivering a blunt insult, a person could expose a rival’s flaw through implication, attitude, gesture, or performance. Jennie Livingston’s 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, filmed within the 1980s Harlem drag-ball scene, features and explains throwing shade. The expression later spread through drag culture, reality television, popular media, and social platforms.[1][2][3][4]

How to use it

The phrase is informal and often suggests wit, implication, or plausible deniability. Among friends, throwing shade can be playful teasing; in an argument or public post, it can sound cutting or passive-aggressive. Although it is now widely used, the expression carries a specific history in Black and Latino LGBTQ+ ballroom culture. It usually fits an indirect jab better than a plain, openly stated insult.

Sources

1. Janus Films — Paris Is BurningSupports: origin.
2. Virginia Commonwealth University News — Beyond the Fab and the Fun, the Ballroom Scene Has Deep Meaning With Deep RootsSupports: origin.
3. Vogue — From Underground Subculture to Global Phenomenon: An Oral History of Ballroom Within Mainstream CultureSupports: origin.
4. The Take — Shade: A History and How to Throw ItSupports: origin.