A fashionable, trendy, or knowledgeable person, especially someone who is hip to jazz culture and modern slang.
From 'hep' (aware, knowledgeable, likely from Wolof 'hepi') + 'cat' (used as slang for a person). Emerged in 1930s-1940s American jazz slang, particularly in African American communities.
Hepcat was the original 'cool kid'—it described jazz musicians and fans who understood the culture so deeply they had their own language and fashion; it's the great-great-grandfather of modern slang like 'lit' and 'flex.'
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