fuck-you, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

fuck-you adj.

1. dismissive, contemptuous.

c.1930		(ref. to late 19C) N. Kimball Amer. Madam (1981) 232: Human nature boils up in such times, a fuck-you outlook on life.
1962		Kerouac letter 4 April in Charters II (1999) 334: They were written in ’54 but now everyone writes like that (with that fuckyou freedom).
1967		J. Orton Diaries (1986) 10 June 187: [footnote] It must be the effect of living in Morocco [...] Everybody here behaves in a very ‘Fuck you’ sort of way.
1983		R. Price Breaks 313: The nonstop bullet-fast fuck-you maneuvering [of the traffic], the near misses, the synchronized swerving.
1997		E. Little Another Day in Paradise 4: She had the maddest, loneliest brown eyes [...] highlighted by a crazy, lopsided, fuck you smile.
2000		Guardian Rev. 10 Mar. 2: They celebrate the San Fernando Valley, the city ‘over the hill’ that Angelenos feel duty bound to hate [...] ‘Boogie Nights and Magnolia are both fuck-you celebrations of the Valley,’ says Anderson.
2003		J. Lethem Fortress of Solitude 209: They had the dough, even left an ostentatious fuck-you tip.
2017		S.M. Jones August Snow [ebook] Jacoby—ate a bullet eight months ago. Left a fuck-you suicide note.
2020		D. Whish-Wilson Shore Leave 54: The attitude of fuck-youall surliness in his eyes.
2021		P Howard Braywatch 296: [W]atching this scene of terrible violence with a big, fock-you smile playing on her lips.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 37: Dig his fuck-you finger farewell.

2. hostile, aggressive; also as an infix.

1988		T. Harris Silence of the Lambs (1991) 311: Senator Fuck-You Martin.
2007		C. Goffard Snitch Jacket 23: The big guy carried some old prison muscle, some once-serious fuck-you muscle.
2016		T. Robinson Rough Trade [ebook] All the crews at St. Gabe’s figured it was safer to keep Zach on the outside, despite him making one hell of a fuck-you-guy.

In compounds

fuck-you money (n.) [the term was allegedly coined by Humphrey Bogart in the 1950s; this is based on a variety of refs. (e.g. cit. 1986) where he is credited with the concept and the term; there are, however, no actual citations from Bogart himself to back this up]

a store of money that gives one the power of freedom from everyday constraints; i.e. one can say to one’s employer fuck you!; thus fuck-you list, a ‘to-do’ list that is based on the (illegal) aquisition of wealth .

1971		(ref. to mid-1950s) E. Wilson Show Business Nobody Knows 2: The first person I heard utter the vulgarism ‘Las Vegas fuck you money’ was Red Buttons [...] What were his plans? I asked. He told me simply, ‘I’m going to go to work in Las Vegas and get some of that ’fuck you’ money’.
1984		D. Jenkins Life Its Ownself (1985) 253: Big Ed said what he damn well thought, did what he damn well pleased. ‘That’s what fuck-you money is all about.’.
1986		(ref. to 1950s) B. Geldof Is That It? 124: Getting rich would give me what Humphrey Bogart called Fuck You money – the ability to do exactly what you liked.
1999		N. Stephenson Cryptonomicon 26: The kind of exponential growth that should get us all into fuck-you money before we turn forty.
2000		F. Kellerman Stalker (2001) 207: It’s what you can afford to lose. The fuck-you money, pardon my French.
2005		D.J. Maloney Golden Calf 136: She considered the book her ‘fuck you’ money which she knew she would need someday when inevitably Laurent picked up on someone younger.
2013		J. Stahl Happy Mutant Baby Pills 97: ‘You must have Bruckheimer money.’ ‘I got a little Fuck You account. Nothing major’.
2020		S.A. Crosby Blacktop Wasteland 65: This wasn’t some stupid-ass sickly horse or some roof trinket. This was the one that let you write your ‘fuck you’ list.