Pwn

//poʊn// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Triumph, victory. Often exclaimed after an opponent in a video game is defeated. Internet, countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    Abbreviation of pulsar wind nebula. abbreviation, alt-of
  3. 3
    Abbreviation of person with narcolepsy. abbreviation, alt-of
  4. 4
    An exploit in computer security, especially relating to machine code. Internet, countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To own, to defeat or dominate (someone or something, especially a game or someone playing a game). Internet, ambitransitive, dated

    "I pwned them in game!"

Synonyms

All synonyms
bafflebeast onconvincedefeateat someone for breakfasteat someone's lunch

Example

More examples

"2nd guard: "Yeah, shiiit! I PWNED YO @zz!""

Etymology

Etymology 1

From own, possibly born out of a typographical error (the adjacency of o and p on qwerty keyboards).

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of pulsar wind nebula.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of person with narcolepsy.

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