username

noun

us·​er·​name ˈyü-zər-ˌnām 

variants or less commonly user name

plural usernames also user names

: a sequence of characters that identifies a user (such as on a computer system, website, or social media platform)

Never reuse a username and password combination. While doing so is convenient, if that combination is ever stolen from one service you use … it will expose every service you have that uses it.

—Rachel Cericola

These e-mail addresses generally look like this: "[e-mail]".

—Walter S. Mossberg

called also user ID

Examples of username in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What if Todd, who had otherwise been so careful, had logged in under the wrong username this one time? —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2024

Chief among them is log-in fatigue, the immersion-killing phenomenon of flipping between services that require different usernames and passwords and two-step-verifications, which collectively take longer navigate than the actual commercial breaks. —Emil Steiner, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024

There is a Facebook page with the same username sharing the same videos. —Ryan Broderick, WIRED, 30 Sep. 2024

The app allows for paying recipients by selecting their name, Venmo username, phone number or email address. —Cheryl V. Jackson, The Courier-Journal, 9 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

username

noun

: a sequence of characters that identifies a user when logging onto a computer or website

called also user ID