TERF

abbreviation or noun

ˈtərf 

variants or less commonly Terf or terf

plural TERFs also Terfs or terfs

often disparaging

: trans-exclusionary radical feminist

A war of words has broken out between some transgender activists and women they call TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) about who should be let into women-only spaces, from domestic-violence refuges to women's literary and sports competitions.

—The Economist

To some, TERF is a slur; to others, a descriptive [term]. Viv Smythe wrote in The Guardian last year that the term she invented has "been weaponized at times by both those who advocate trans-inclusion in feminist/female spaces, and those who push for trans-exclusion from female-only spaces."

—Dawn Ennis

Online roots of the term TERF originated in the late 2000s but grew out of 1970s radical feminist circles after it became apparent that there needed to be a term to separate radical feminists who support trans women and those who don't. Many anti-trans feminists today claim it's a slur …

—Katelyn Burns

While the focus on girls' sports is increasingly common in the United States, the broader ideology of pitting cisgender and transgender women against each other has become common across the world. In the United Kingdom, this debate has received increasing attention in recent years, in part due to a subset of feminists, referred to as trans exclusionary radical feminists (often abbreviated to TERFs) …

—Madeline Fitzgerald

"… You look at Twitter, and it seems like it's trans activists versus TERFs, and it's all going to end like a battle scene from 'Game of Thrones.' …"

—Ricky Gervais

… the internet's largest and most recognizable anti-trans space, known on Reddit as a "major pipeline" into TERF ideology.

—Kaitlyn Tiffany

That's the stuff the Terfs care about—the feminists who do not accept that transitioned men are actually women.

—Rod Liddle

… Pamela Paul aligned herself with British "terfs," … arguing that both the far Left (in its transgender policies) and the far Right (in its abortion policies) agree that "women don't count."

—Madeleine Kearns

Word History

First Known Use

2008, in the meaning defined above