What does "bloatware" mean?

Software that is packed with too many features and therefore slow or unwieldy; software that is inefficiently designed and occupies an excessive amount of memory or disk space.

What is a synonym for "bloatware"?

Common synonyms include: crapware, fatware, fatware, foistware.

Bloatware

noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
Software that is packed with too many features and therefore slow or unwieldy; software that is inefficiently designed and occupies an excessive amount of memory or disk space. informal, uncountable
"Today’s software development cycle does not allow time to optimize and refine products, and that leads to bloatware."
2
Unwanted pre-installed software, especially on a smartphone. uncountable
"Bloatware has also introduced numerous security and trust issues in smartphones. […] OEMs, third-party app providers, telecommunication operators, and malicious parties have used bloatware apps to over-collect user data."

Synonyms

All synonyms

crapware fatware fatware foistware

Example

More examples

"In computer science, bloatware is software that uses a lot of storage space."

Etymology

From bloat + -ware, originally in the sense “unwieldy software”. The sense “pre-installed software” has become predominant since the 2010s.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.