Hashtag
noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A metadata tag, signaled by a preceding hash sign (#), used to label content. Internet
"I support the hash tag convention: http://tinyurl.com/2qttlb #hashtag #factoryjoe #twitter"
- 2 metadata tag used on social network and microblogging services which makes it easier for users to find messages with a specific theme or content wordnet
- 3 The hash sign itself, especially when used as part of a hashtag. Internet, informal, metonymically
"I sound like a shitty mother and wife. Or at the very least an inadequate wife and ungrateful mother–which is in stark contrast to the image I try to portray on Instagram. Hashtag happy life. Hashtag beautiful family. Hashtag blessed."
- 1 To label (a message) with a hashtag. Internet, ambitransitive
"The photo-sharing site was riddled with fake accounts that liked, followed and hashtagged out the wazoo. Then came the great “Instagram Rapture,” Instagram’s pledge last December to clean out the fake accounts and do “everything possible to keep Instagram free from the fake and spammy accounts that plague much of the web.”"
Example
More examples"Social media has been sharing hashtag #coveryourmouth, admonishing people to use the crook of their arm, a handkerchief or a tissue to block the spew of aerosolized germs in public places."
Etymology
From earlier hash tag, from hash (sign) + tag. The hash sign # was initially proposed as tag hash by Chris Messina to create groups on Twitter, modeled after the IRC channel prefix. First published use as hash tag by Stowe Boyd in 2007.
Related phrases
More for "hashtag"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.