Word.ws English Dictionary

algospeak

/ˈæl.ɡəʊˌspiːk/US/ˈæl.ɡoʊˌspik/

algospeak noun: a form of cant intended to evade social media content filters.

Noun

algospeak (uncountable)

  1. (neologism, social media) A form of cant intended to evade social media content filters.
    • Black and trans users, and those from other marginalized communities, often use algospeak to discuss the oppression they face, swapping out words for “white” or “racist.”2022 April 8, Taylor Lorenz, “Internet ‘algospeak’ is changing our language in real time, from ‘nip nops’ to ‘le dollar bean’”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN
    • By recognizing that keywords can be used to filter content, internet users have resorted to algospeak, the consensual substitution of censored terms with uncensored terms in order to evade censorship (Lorenz, 2022).2022 June 24, Jordan Richard Schoenherr, “3.6.2 Microtargeting, Nudging, and Social Influence Campaigns”, in Ethical Artificial Intelligence from Popular to Cognitive Science: Trust in the Age of...

Examples of algospeak in a sentence

  • If you’ve noticed the use of newly invented words cropping up on digital platforms or words used out of context or misspelled, it’s not a new kind of social media slang—it’s algospeak.2022 October 31, KC Ifeanyi, “Decoding what algospeak really means for content creators”, in Fast Company:
  • Given the reach of social media, however, algospeak has the potential to more broadly influence everyday language.2023 April 13, Roger J. Kreuz, “What is ‘algospeak’? Inside the newest version of linguistic subterfuge”, in The Conversation U.S., Boston:

Origin of algospeak

From algo (“algorithm”) + -speak.

Questions about algospeak

What does algospeak mean?
Algospeak means a form of cant intended to evade social media content filters.
How do you use algospeak in a sentence?
If you’ve noticed the use of newly invented words cropping up on digital platforms or words used out of context or misspelled, it’s not a new kind of social media slang—it’s algospeak.
What part of speech is algospeak?
Algospeak is a noun.
How do you pronounce algospeak?
Algospeak is pronounced /ˈæl.ɡəʊˌspiːk/ (UK).

Words near algospeak in the dictionary

  1. algorithmophiles
  2. algorithmophobe
  3. algorithmophobes
  4. algorithms
  5. algos
  6. algospeak
  7. algotherapist
  8. algotherapists
  9. algotherapy
  10. algotorial
  11. algotrader

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: algospeak (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-algospeak.wav.

Cite this entry: “algospeak.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/algospeak. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.