Dictionary

Gamergater en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

From Gamergate + -er.

Meanings

1. (neologism) A person involved in the Gamergate harassment campaign.
   • On Twitter, for instance, Gamergaters flooded the mentions of particular users as a form of harassment. 2025 March 23, Harmeet Kaur, “How Gamergate foreshadowed the toxic hellscape that the internet has now become”, in CNN:
   • Gamergaters have hurt people, and they've driven people out of games. 2016, Dan Golding, Leena van Deventer, Game Changers:
   • "But the cultural conflict between these two post-revolutionary styles — between frat guys and feminist bluestockings, Gamergaters and the diversity police, alt-right provocateurs and 'woke' dudebros, the mouthbreathers who poured hate on the all-female 'Ghostbusters' and the tastemakers who pretended it was good — is likely here to stay." 2016 August 14, Ross Douthat, “A Playboy for President”, in The New York Times:
   • He credits GamerGaters with organizing a revolt against a deeply unsatisfying marketplace by loyal consumers who deserve better. 2016, Alison Novak, Defining Identity and the Changing Scope of Culture in the Digital Age:
   • Harassment campaigns using the hashtag #GamerGate claimed, in part, to be a response to ethical shortcomings in games journalism; many Gamergaters criticized what they call “social justice warriors” in the gaming industry […] 2016, Rebecca Ann Lind, Race and Gender in Electronic Media: Content, Context, Culture:

Forms