rad

R1A1D2
UK, US/ɹæd/

noun

A non-SI unit of absorbed dose of radiation, equal to 0.01 gray, that is, 1 centigray.

“Near-synonyms: centigray, cGy (same physical quantity)”

CommonScrabble 4

Meanings

rad1

adjectiverad (comparative radder, superlative raddest)

comparative radder · superlative raddest

  1. abbreviationclippingdatedslangClipping of radical (“excellent”).

    What is up, girly-friend? Holy shit, cuz. This is such a rad surprise.

    2011, Diablo Cody, Young Adult (motion picture), spoken by Wheelchair Mike (John Forest)
    1 more example

    In the Guinness Book of World-fucking-Records, man… under "Raddest Fucking Dude Alive"!

    2002, Brent Goldberg, David Wagner, Van Wilder (motion picture), spoken by Wasted Guy (Aaron Paul)

    Synonyms: amazing, astounding, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, sensational, awesomesauce, based

nounrad (plural rads)

plural rads

  1. metrologyA non-SI unit of absorbed dose of radiation, equal to 0.01 gray, that is, 1 centigray.

    Near-synonyms: centigray, cGy (same physical quantity)

    Synonyms: centigray, mul:cGy

  2. symbolSymbol for the radian, a unit of measure for angle.
  3. abbreviationclippingslangautomotiveClipping of radiator.
  4. abbreviationslangengineeringAbbreviation of sight radius.
  5. abbreviationclippingClipping of radical: a political radical.

    The women who work in it with me are all feminists, they're all rads, two of them are black belts in karate...I mean, they're major women.

    1991 April 19, Penny Arcade, “The Real Thing”, in Gay Community News, page 8

RAD2

nounRAD (countable and uncountable, plural RADs)

plural RADs

  1. abbreviationcountableinitialismbusinessInitialism of role activity diagram.
  2. abbreviationinitialismuncountablecomputingInitialism of rapid application development.
  3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablemedicineInitialism of reactive attachment disorder.
proper noun
  1. abbreviationinitialismUS space program; space; US space program; spaceInitialism of Radiation Assessment Detector, a scientific instrument of the Mars Science Laboratory onboard the Curiosity rover at Mars.
  2. abbreviationacronymAcronym of River Arts District, a neighborhood of Asheville, North Carolina, United States.

    The recovery is still a work in progress, given the deadly storm’s massive impact on people across Western North Carolina and its devastation of two popular Asheville neighborhoods — the RAD (“rad”), as locals call it, and nearby Biltmore Village.

    2025 June 26, Marnie Hunter, “‘These mountains are still here.’ Asheville is ready for your visit”, in CNN, archived from the original on 03 Jul 2025

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA non-SI unit of absorbed dose of radiation, equal to 0.01 gray, that is, 1 centigray.

Similar
centigraymul:cGy

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe unit of plane angle adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites; equal to the angle at the center of a circle subtended by an arc equal in length to the radius (approximately 57.295 degrees)

Similar
Broader
angular unit

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

German krass, irre
  • krassshort for radical; excellent
  • irreshort for radical; excellent
  • bombigshort for radical; excellent
Russian клёвый, чумовой
  • клёвый (kljóvyj)short for radical; excellent
  • чумовой (čumovoj)short for radical; excellent

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with rad

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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