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

With over 19,000 posts using the hashtag #topicals on TikTok, creators are wearing the under eye masks as a must-have beauty accessory in a number of the videos. —India Espy-Jones, Essence, 13 Mar. 2025

The following year, when all of the acting nominations went to white actors again, Reign’s hashtag took off, becoming a social justice phenomenon. —Kalia Richardson, Rolling Stone, 2 Mar. 2025

The Power of the Intersectional Protest Image In an age of hashtag activism and partisan news, social media offers possibilities for intersectional movements to reimagine images of Black protest. —JSTOR Daily, 20 Feb. 2025

Autism—a neurological and developmental disorder that impacts communication, learning, and behavior—is being discussed (on podcasts or via neurodivergent influencers or hashtags) and diagnosed more than ever before. —Cassie Shortsleeve, SELF, 19 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2007, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hashtag

• airbag
• handbag
• ragtag
• sandbag
• ag
• bag
• brag
• dag
• drag
• flag
• gag
• hag

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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)