noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A type of software that is distributed without payment but is limited in any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. uncountable
2. 2
   software that is available free of charge; may be distributed for evaluation with a fee requested for additional features or a manual etc. wordnet

Example

More examples

"Back in the day, programs used to be distributed as shareware."

Etymology

From share + -ware; popularized by Bob Wallace

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