Glowie
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A government agent or informant infiltrating an online political space, with the supposed intention of surveilling violent extremists or provoking entrapment. Internet, derogatory
"On January 6, one Telegram user made their channel, which was popular with the far right, private because "nameless faceless glowies are joining." Two days later, another person suggested that glowies would "float dead cop story, to redirect public attention and sympathy," referring to the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. […] Far-right forums are rife with racism and misogyny, so perhaps it’s no surprise that glowie derives from the language of hate."
Example
More examples"On January 6, one Telegram user made their channel, which was popular with the far right, private because "nameless faceless glowies are joining." Two days later, another person suggested that glowies would "float dead cop story, to redirect public attention and sympathy," referring to the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. […] Far-right forums are rife with racism and misogyny, so perhaps it’s no surprise that glowie derives from the language of hate."
Etymology
From glow + -ie. Originated by Terry Davis, who stated in a 2017 video that “CIA niggers glow in the dark”, implying that they are conspicuous. The term “glowie” would become popular on the 4chan /pol/ board around 2019.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.