Chicken

Chicken is older American and British gay slang for a young male, typically someone adolescent-looking, slim, smooth, and inexperienced. It was common in mid-20th-century gay male culture and gave rise to the related term chickenhawk, meaning an older man who pursues much younger partners. The word carries an uncomfortable history: at times it implied someone underage or was tied to the fetishizing of extreme youth, so it is now largely dated and can read as exploitative. Many speakers avoid it entirely, favoring terms like twink for a young, slim adult. Understanding the word mostly helps in reading older writing or hearing it from an earlier generation.