Word.ws English Dictionary

it's not a bug, it's a feature

it's not a bug, it's a feature phrase: what one user may consider a software bug, other users may consider to be a useful feature or an intentional consequence of the system's design.

Phrase

it's not a bug, it's a feature

  1. What one user may consider a software bug, other users may consider to be a useful feature or an intentional consequence of the system's design.
  2. (humorous) A self-deprecating response when confronted by a bug in the software that one is authored or is introducing to another user.
  3. (broadly) Affirms the validity of a counterintuitive behavior within a system; it is by design.
    • One annoyance, or maybe it’s one of those “it’s-not-a-bug-it’s-a-feature” situations, is the gearshift.1999 September, “Long-term Test Cars”, in Popular Mechanics, New York City
    • “It is a feature, not a bug of Article 3 that the courts grant relief for the people in front of them,” Sauer said.2025 May 15, Bart Jansen, quoting D. John Sauer, “Brown Jackson questioned how courts help multiple victims with only one litigant”, in USA Today, New York City, retrieved 15 May 2025

Forms of it's not a bug, it's a feature

alternative formINABIAF
alternative formit's a feature, not a bug

Origin of it's not a bug, it's a feature

Coined by American computer programmer Sandra Lee Harris in 1971 at Digital Equipment Corporation.

Questions about it's not a bug, it's a feature

What does it's not a bug, it's a feature mean?
It's not a bug, it's a feature means what one user may consider a software bug, other users may consider to be a useful feature or an intentional consequence of the system's design.
What part of speech is it's not a bug, it's a feature?
It's not a bug, it's a feature is a phrase.

Words near it's not a bug, it's a feature in the dictionary

  1. it's grim up north
  2. it's lonely at the top
  3. it's never too late to mend
  4. it's no use
  5. it's none of your business
  6. it's not a bug, it's a feature
  7. it's not even funny
  8. it's not every day
  9. it's not funny
  10. it's not my fault
  11. it's not over 'til the fat lady sings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: it's not a bug, it's a feature (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.

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Cite this entry: “it's not a bug, it's a feature.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/it%27s_not_a_bug%2C_it%27s_a_feature. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.