bashtag

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noun

A hashtag used to criticize something, especially one that was intended for promotional use but repurposed by users to criticize that which it was intended to promote, or make the opposite point.

Scrabble 13

Meanings

nounbashtag (plural bashtags)

plural bashtags

  1. InternetA hashtag used to criticize something, especially one that was intended for promotional use but repurposed by users to criticize that which it was intended to promote, or make the opposite point.

    The threat of a viral video or Twitter “bashtag” takedown has raised the cost of direct manipulation and greenwash.

    2012, Dana O'Rourke, Shopping for Good, The MIT Press, →ISBN, page 22
    2 more examples

    The hashtag became a bashtag and Twitter users were instead using it to share their negative experiences of McDonalds,^([sic]) letting others know about the poor service and bad food they had experienced.

    2013, Robert Ashton, Jessica Juby, Writing for the Web: Teach Yourself, McGraw-Hill, unnumbered page

    Unfortunately, while you like your product, others may feel differently. It doesn't take long for a hashtag to become a bashtag.

    2014, Michael Cross, Social Media Security: Leveraging Social Networking While Mitigating Risk, Syngress, →ISBN, page 99

Origin

Blend of bash (“disparage, criticize”) + hashtag.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bashtag. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bashtag

MLA

“bashtag.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bashtag. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bashtag,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bashtag.

Source: bashtag on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.