Skip to main content
Urban Dictionary Merch
Your favorite words on things you can wear, drink from, read, or give to a friend.
The Urban Dictionary Store sells gifts you’ll have to explain.
In England the term raver is used by a broad spectrum of society to describe the practice of dancing in a club/ware house all night .The word was borrowed from Jamaican slang meaning the same thing (Bob Marley "Midnight Ravers"). Originating from illegal parties that spread all over England like wild fire in 1988 (The second summer of love) millions of people would flock to a secret outdoor location or derelict building , Keeping details secret till the last minute and arrive in a convoy . The movement was responsible for breaking down social barriers including racism (Rave against racism).The music on offer was “Rave” , “Hardcore” , “Detroit Techno” and “Acid House”

Electronic dance music quickly evolved , and split into many different scenes with very different ethos and ideas attached to each scene. The scenes range from fluffy glow stick trance heads to weapon carrying garage/grime gangsters. In the 90s the scene was commercialised to the extent that raves where multimillion pound industries run by corporate companies and nearly every kid in the UK was a raver listening to “Happy Hardcore” a very cheesy form of dance music with a 4 to the floor kick drum and chip monk vocals (chart hits speeded up). This eventually made the term a dirty word.

Now days the term is becoming fashionable again and the majority of ravers are just normal English kids who love electronic music and dancing (normally involving taking drugs).The phrase rave or raver is mainly used now days by the drum and bass and garage scenes, but is now used more than ever to describe all night parties where electro house , tech house and minimal techno are played particularly in East London, a taste maker for a lot of English dance music
"big shout going out to raver massive" - drum and bass MC

"she's been out every weekend this year, she's a right little raver" - friends comment
raver by Proper Electronic December 22, 2006
Related Words
The usual general term of raver is people who go to all night long parties. The real ravers are those who don't classify themselves as a raver unless completely misunderstood as to how exactly they party when asked.

kandy Kids- "Kids" who wear brightly colored plastic beads refered to as kandy. They typically wear oversized pants featuring children cartoons such as care bears, spongebob, rainbowbrite, etc. They love to spread P.L.U.R.R.(Peace Love Unity Respect Responsibility) around. They love to write on you with UV reactive markers, give hugs, lightshows, always carry glowsticks and blinkies, pass out stickers and candy. Typically their musical choice is Happy Hardcore, number one, and trance. Kandy kids today usually are E-tards. The real kandy kids are those who go to raves, spread P.L.U.R.R., love and all that good stuff but do it sober.

Jugalist- Typical jungalist HATE kandy kids. They find their whole "act" annoying. Jungalist are also "supposed" to hate glowsticks. They mostly listen to Jungle/DnB. They like to wear earth tone colors, like dark green, brown etc.

Cyber ravers-listen to cyber trance, haha just kidding, cyber trance is really good though. Anyways, typically wear bright flourecent dreads like hot pink or neon green. Wear silver clothing with reflective tape on them. Crazy make up too!

The general raver- A person who goes to the parties, wears whatever is comfortable, no label.

Gothic raver- Gothic clothes, unsociable, listen to hardcore/gabber

The skanks-Not a raver, just somebody who likes to party and wants to get laid. Take advantage of the drugged up people. Does not necessarly have to be a girl. Most girls dress very skanky.

Typically is used a lot because it's changing. The scene is changing so the labeled raver may or may not do/wear these things.
Dude I'm going to a rave this weekend! Man you're such a raver.
raver by rave_girl3000 July 24, 2008
Because I noticed a lot of the entries consisting of a whole shitload of bias, I'll try to do this from an objective position. A raver can be anyone who attends an all night party (could be underground and small or "bust-free" and a massive) consisting of DJs who play electronic dance music (for example: trance, house, happy hardcore, drum & bass, etc.) frequently. There is still debate about whether or not someone is considered a "raver" if they only attend the massives and never go to any of the smaller, underground ones. A raver does not have to use ecstasy; some have chosen to dance sober therefore being called a raver does not necessarily mean being called a drug addict. It is, however, quite a popular drug in the scene, nonetheless, since it enhances the music and the lights for most people as well as gets rid of any inhibitions. The rave scene in England officially started in 1987/1988 while in America, it started in the early 90s. The rave culture is still going strong although raves are much more commercialized now than when the movement first began.

The meaning of PLUR:
• Peace - to stay cool with all people around them thus uplifting the culture
• Love - to stay close to all other ravers making rave one big family.
• Unity - to stand together for the one cause to party.
• Respect- to understand the world they're in and those trying for improvement.
My raver friend Linda has gone to DDR, Future Ape, Nocturnal Wonderland, Monster Massive, and Together As One this year.
raver by twailight August 29, 2007
Children of the night. Originally reffered to an individual who participated in illegal all night gatherings as a form of rebellion to authority figures and authorities alike. Used as a form of escapism from the norm with the aid of mind altering drugs and repetitive beats, ravers would "peak" to a euphoric frenzy at rave parties. Raver fashion traditionally was very expressive and loud, utilising bright colours and a baggy look with "cute"/pop culture characters incorporated in the outfit.
Always frowned upon by other urban cultures, being a raver came with a "drug addict" label. Depending on which musical style you were most into determined your "label" and "rave alias"... that's it 4 now. Things are different nowadays, with the age of "ravers" falling and the amount of drugs consumed rising, the original feeling of rebellion is somewhat lost, especially with all the media publicity over the last few years.
raver by Wassim May 28, 2003
A group of people who tend to "Feel" music and act on that by dancing erractically, entertaining eyes with impressive glowsticking, and indulging in "party favors."

Many ravers are trashed by people who were once of the same, but have for one reason or another dropped the scene.

The rave culture slipped into a remission for a while, but has started cropping back up, although media over-coverage is causing damage.

Sometimes called Zombies
See that raver?
Yeah, he must be feeling the comeback!
Raver by Sleepyhead October 9, 2005
Someone who goes to all the good parties. Someone who travels to be at a musicfest usually house music. Someone who goes to work in the morning after partying all night with little or no sleep. Someone who goes to party for many consecutive days at a time. Ravers are a group of people who are always at the same clubs, raves, parties together.
Raver by pinkbritt April 29, 2011
More from Urban Dictionary

funflation 

The recent boom in consumer spending on entertainment and experiences with a high demand running up the cost of enjoying of those experiences.
I’m trying to go to this Taylor Swift concert but the funflation has made it so impossible for me to afford tickets.
funflation by Dfree523 November 17, 2023
Word of the Day on October 13, 2026
A US deep south term for an alligator. Usually used in the Cajun dialect.
Take the big pirogue, I saw a huge swamp dog out there earlier.
swamp dog by Crystal Ambrose May 22, 2006
Word of the Day on October 12, 2026

Throat Sweats 

The feeling and build up in your mouth/throat of saliva that sometimes accompanies nausea.
Oh man those burritos gave me the throat sweats, I hope I don’t have food poisoning.
Throat Sweats by TacoFings420 April 23, 2024
Word of the Day on October 11, 2026
Being ignored by someone when making a statement or asking a question. Also known as blanked and turfed.
Person 1: Did u watch ** last nite?
Person 2:......
Person 3: O no u got aired!
aired by Pietro February 9, 2005
Word of the Day on October 10, 2026

piddlefart

verb. To waste time doing nothing.
Instead of doing my homework, I decided to piddlefart around for two hours.
piddlefart by Rene April 25, 2005
Word of the Day on October 9, 2026
anyone who succeeds in disgracing/over indulging themselves in the throws of clubland
28 hours and 4 clubs later, gurning for england but still refusing to go home - a total wrongun!!
wrongun by bevvers March 21, 2007
Word of the Day on October 8, 2026
Load more