fam

F4A1M3
/fæm/

noun

A term of endearment between friends; derived from "family" but not used between relatives.

“I'm gonna visit the fam.”

Less commonScrabble 8

Meanings

fam1

nounfam (plural fams)

plural fams

  1. abbreviationclippinginformalClipping of family.

    I'm gonna visit the fam.

  2. InternetMulticultural London Englishslangchiefly African-American VernacularA term of endearment between friends; derived from "family" but not used between relatives.

    Hey fam, how you doin'? / Safe mate, safe.

    3 more examples

    "Cadet, Cadet!" Not every day, fam. Can't you see why it's long? I just wanna get my creps and be gone.

    2017, “Uber Everywhere Freestyle 2”performed by Cadet (rapper)

    Gotta get more organised, 'cah fam, I hate rushing

    2019, “Going Through It” (track 6), in Ignorance Is Bliss, performed by Skepta

    “Yo, Audre, so content warning: My mama is wearing booty shorts—or pum-pum shorts, whatever you call it—doing yoga in the backyard. She is very comfortable with herself and her body and all a that, so you been warned, fam.”

    2019, Junauda Petrus, The Stars and the Blackness Between Them, Penguin, →ISBN, page 77
  3. abbreviationclippingcolloquialhospitality industryClipping of familiarization.

    She arranged back-to-back fams and took her boyfriend.

    1 more example

    The tourist board organized fam junkets for travel agents.

Fam2

proper noun
  1. A local language spoken in the Taraba State area of Nigeria.
  2. abbreviationinitialismlawInitialism of Family Division (a subseries of Incorporated Council of Law Reporting's Law Reports).

FAM3

nounFAM (plural FAMs)

plural FAMs

  1. USabbreviationinitialismgovernmentInitialism of federal air marshal.
    1 more example

    “I ultimately decided to leave (retire) because I was denied the ability to leverage my experience for the good of the FAMs and I realize that I was part of a system which was putting the emotional well-being of FAMs at risk,” Kathleen Christian, who resigned last year as a clinical psychologist with the federal air marshals, said on Nov. 17 in a scathing email to several marshals.

    2018 April 25, Ron Nixon, “Scandals and Investigations, but Few Arrests, for Air Marshals Program”, in The New York Times

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

Abbreviations * (family, term of endearment): Clipping of family * (familiarization): Clipping of familiarization

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Spanish carnal
  • carnalterm of endearment between friends

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with fam

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Cite this entry
APA

fam. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fam

MLA

“fam.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fam. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fam,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fam.

Source: fam on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.