hashtag

noun

hash·​tag ˈhash-ˌtag 

plural hashtags

: a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (such as a tweet)

You know a thing is really a thing these days when it has its own hashtag. And there it was last week, trending on Twitter alongside #cincodemayo and #happymothersday: #umpshow, which sprang up in the wake of some shockingly bad umpiring over the first six weeks of the major league season.

—Joe Sheehan

It's also true that a popular hashtag can benefit important and worthy subjects, such as the recently kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls.

—Mark Leibovich

also : the symbol # as used in a hashtag

Did you know?

Hashtags are an everyday part of Internet culture, thanks to social media. Originally designed for categorizing posts (i.e., tagging them) on Twitter, hashtags now commonly also supplement or comment on whatever text or image they accompany. The “hash” in hashtag is short for hash mark, a term for what we also call a pound sign or, if you want to apply the word-nerdiest designation, an octothorpe. Hash in this case is probably an alteration of hatch, a term for the lines artists sometimes use to add shading to a drawing. #WordNerdery

Examples of hashtag in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On social media, please spread the word using the hashtag #cincySOTW. —Caroline Ritzie, The Enquirer, 28 Oct. 2024

The analysis was based on the number of articles, social media hashtags, and monthly Google searches related to each character’s wardrobe. —Madeline Fitzgerald, Quartz, 25 Oct. 2024

That week, four million fans used the hashtag #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik to express their grief. —Lucy Ford, TIME, 21 Oct. 2024

Look to 2023’s viral TikTok hashtag #BlackFridayIsAScam. —Catherine Salfino, Sourcing Journal, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

2007, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

hashtag

noun

hash·​tag

ˈhash-ˌtag

: a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (as a tweet)