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

Through the VMAs Instagram page, fans can cast additional votes for Video of the Year presented by Burger King, Artist of the Year and Best New Artists by using specific hashtags through Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. ET. —Jack Irvin, People.com, 5 Aug. 2025

Dairy Queen also encourages fans to share photos of their charitable treats on social media with the hashtag #MiracleTreatDay. —Alexis Simmerman, Austin American Statesman, 1 Aug. 2025

The hashtags say that the parents are Nigerian, which explains a lot, according to the comments. —Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 July 2025

The hashtag #GenZStare, which has been used in about 8,000 videos on TikTok, began picking up steam earlier this month and hit its peak Monday. —Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC news, 18 July 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)