Definitions

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

  • verb Internet slang, online gaming To own in the sense of defeat.
  • verb Internet slang, online gaming To beat someone or something by a wide margin, usually in relation to a game.
  • noun Internet, online gaming, slang Triumph, defeat, victory. Often exclaimed after an opponent in a video game is defeated.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

own, possibly born out of a typographical error (o being adjacent to p on qwerty keyboards).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pwn.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • The slang term pwn, used primarily in the Internet gaming culture, means to soundly defeat an opponent. It is sometimes used for taunting of an in-game enemy, and rubbing in victories. The etymology of the term pwn is believed to be rooted in a typographical error arising from the proximity of the 'p' key to the 'o' key on a standard English keyboard.

    Pronounced sometimes as 'own', sometimes as 'pone'.

    February 19, 2007

  • this says it all

    April 10, 2007

  • Interesting that this word exists mostly in written form, without a standard pronunciation.

    October 27, 2007

  • I thought the standard was "owned," but I guess most people don't know that and say "powned," so... *is sad about this*

    October 27, 2007

  • The only people I know who actually say "powned" are cognizant of its origin, but find it funny to pronounce the p.

    October 27, 2007

  • Yes, it's definitely pronounced like "poned," and in an ironic, knowing manner.

    October 27, 2007

  • I know, U, but it makes me sad. *weeps*

    October 28, 2007

  • Sounds like you got pwned by pronunciation.

    October 28, 2007

  • Great. All this talk of "pwned" is making me hungry for hush puppies.

    October 28, 2007

  • When I first saw the word "pwn", I thought it was derived from Welsh, like "cwm" or "crwth". I went around for over a year hearing it my head as "poon".

    Then one day I attempted to use the word in conversation. It was a bewildering moment; all of a sudden, everyone was chortling and making references to Tang.

    April 8, 2008

  • It's got to be pronounced "poon"! I think the thing is, this is a word which ought not to be pronounced at all. It's a word which openly rejects vocalisation!

    April 8, 2008

  • I say this as "pween" or "pweened," which forks the original word's inexplicable pronunciation for the second (or third?) time!

    Further antagonizing of comrades is accomplished via the use of "pweenage."

    Woot.

    April 9, 2008