Meanings
plural litfans · plural litfen
- slanglifestyleA science fiction fan primarily interested in written science fiction.
There's certainly some overlap between litfen and mediafen, but there's also a distinctly different audience of mediafen, who may never look at this group.
1994 November 13, Laurie Mann, “Re: Do we need rec.arts.sf.fandom.media?”, in rec.arts.sf.fandom (Usenet), message-ID <3a51lf$83p@terrazzo.lm.com>2 more examples
Personally, I was apalled^([sic]) at the divisions I saw within Star Trek fandom, where people wearing "Original Series" uniforms were sneered at far worse than I've seen from 'trufans', and the way some media fans sneer at others for watching the "wrong shows". Forget 'litfen' versus 'meejafen', the mediafen seem to be their own worst enemies.
2001 August 17, Chris Croughton, “Re: Any thoughts appreciated.”, in uk.people.sf-fans (Usenet), message-ID <slrn9nqri2.651.chris@ccserver.keris.net>Point is we weren't a pack of "mediafen barbarians", we were real, live, young litfans (and hardly any of us read any fantasy, were SF fans); but we were from the burbs and we were unfannish.
2014 January, Neil Williams, “Letters of Comment”, in Space Cadet, volume 12, number 1 (whole number #25), page 7
Origin
From lit (“literature”) + fan.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
litfan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/litfan
“litfan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/litfan. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “litfan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/litfan.
Source: litfan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.