Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun online gaming One who griefs: a player who plays a game primarily to reduce other players’ enjoyment of it.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From grief +‎ -er.

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Examples

  • A court is clearly going to have to place the SL griefer attacks in the context of SL, and more importantly, when we are talking about the criminal law, the reasonable understanding that the *griefer* had of his/her rights/obligations, etc.

    The Solution to Griefing is... The FBI? 2005

  • I am talking about the term griefer and how it will be used and why.

    What to Call a Griefer? 2007

  • So much has the term griefer lost its potency that people will now talk instead about specific kinds of griefing, such as training or ninja looting or kill stealing.

    October 2007 2007

  • It used to be that the term griefer had a very specific meaning in virtual worlds: it meant someone who deliberately did something for the pleasure in knowing it caused others pain.

    What to Call a Griefer? 2007

  • It used to be that the term griefer had a very specific meaning in virtual worlds: it meant someone who deliberately did something for the pleasure in knowing it caused others pain.

    October 2007 2007

  • So much has the term griefer lost its potency that people will now talk instead about specific kinds of griefing, such as training or ninja looting or kill stealing.

    What to Call a Griefer? 2007

  • However, the reason the word griefer got used in the first place is because it’s really handy.

    October 2007 2007

  • However, the reason the word griefer got used in the first place is because it’s really handy.

    What to Call a Griefer? 2007

  • This makes the population of people defined as griefer very poorly defined.

    What to Call a Griefer? 2007

  • As mentioned, the griefer was the characteristic barrier to PvP- one griefer could make alot of PvP-neutral players prefer "no-pvp" just to avoid the idiots.

    The Price of Serenity? 2006

Comments

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  • I've been seeing this word a lot the past couple days. Apparently it refers to someone who makes life miserable for others online in a variety of offensive ways. Now the label is being applied most notably to the famous "Anonymous Hackers" of 4chan, which, if you're not aware, are the most inane and vulgar people on earth, hailing from the most inane and vulgar web site on earth. They see it as their mission to spread shock, stupidity, and frustration everywhere they go. I'm frankly getting tired of reading about these losers (I've seen a lot of articles about them lately) but here's a Wired Magazine link I just found for those who are uninitiated.

    My position is that these guys are not really hackers (for the most part). They're just a large number of sentient buttwipes that get a sadistic kick out of harassing people within the system. When 150 of them get together at one time, they don't have to actually hack anything to bring a web site to its knees. I would label them as psychopaths because of their apparent lack of conscience. They are entirely motivated by "the lulz," which basically means they do it for fun, period.

    January 25, 2008

  • I guess (ought I put some word here?) meeting them personally they'd turn out completely nice dudes (or she-dudes). Oh well, this world is quite confusing.^^

    October 3, 2008