Usenet

noun

Use·​net ˈyüz-ˌnet 

: the aggregate of all newsgroups on the Internet

Examples of Usenet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But the other thing longtime fans know about the original show is that many of its casting changes were extremely controversial, causing long-running old-school flame wars in the Usenet group that served as the fandom’s online hub back in the day. — Andrew Cunningham, ArsTechnica, 13 Feb. 2026

Whereas Usenet and digital forums required users to seek out such debate and discourse, social media is able to deliver it to the masses. — Peter Suciu, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025

In 1986, the administrators of several institutional Unix systems opened gateways to nearby BBSs, thereby enabling the exchange of messages among users of FidoNet, Usenet, and the nascent Internet. — IEEE Spectrum, 24 Oct. 2016

At the end of August, in the same Usenet group, Torvalds announced his kernel to the world. — IEEE Spectrum, 29 Mar. 2016

Word History

Etymology

probably from Usenix, an association of computer programmers using the operating system Unix (from users of Unix) + net entry 1 (network)

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Usenet

• alphabet
• arpanet
• bassinet
• bayonet
• biuret
• cigarette
• clarinet
• coronet
• coverlet
• dataset
• epithet
• ethernet