Easter egg
Americannoun
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a chicken egg that is dyed and often given a figure or design, or an imitation of such an egg, as an egg-shaped candy or chocolate, used at Easter as a gift or decoration.
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Digital Technology. an extra feature, as a message or video, hidden in a software program, video game, DVD, etc., and revealed as by an obscure sequence of keystrokes or commands.
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Movies, Television. a hidden message, as a cryptic reference, iconic image, or inside joke, that fans are intended to discover in a television show or movie.
noun
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an egg given to children at Easter, usually a chocolate egg or a hen's egg with its shell painted
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a bonus or extra feature hidden inside a website, computer game, or DVD, that is only revealed after repeated or lengthy viewing or playing
Usage
What does Easter egg mean? Easter eggs can refer to candy eggs or eggs decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, and searched for during Easter egg hunts. In popular culture, Easters eggs are text, images, visual gags, jokes, or other content that creators intentionally hide in media for their and their viewers' amusement.
Etymology
Origin of Easter egg
First recorded in 1570–80
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hardly messaging that brings to mind Easter egg hunts on the White House lawn.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
It’s good news for Easter egg buyers, as the average price of a dozen conventional eggs fell to $1.423 in the fiscal third quarter from $4.766 a year ago.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026
A "chocolate doughnut Easter egg" triggers curiosity - a shell blended with shortbread and fudge pieces, topped with sprinkles.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
Tickets were set at $12, a reference to the album number—the kind of wink-nudge Easter egg Swift has become known for.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 5, 2025
Halliday’s Easter egg gradually moved into the realm of urban legend, and the ever-dwindling tribe of gunters gradually became the object of ridicule.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
