hacker

American  

[hak-er] / ˈhæk ər /

noun

hackers plural

1. a person or thing that hacks.

2. Slang. a person who engages in an activity without talent or skill.

   weekend hackers on the golf course.

3. Computers.

   1. a person who has a high level of skill in computer technology or programming; a computer expert or enthusiast.

      My brother is a real hacker—he fixed my laptop in no time.

   2. a person who circumvents security and breaks into a network, computer, file, etc., often, but not always, with malicious intent.

      A hacker got into my computer remotely and wiped my hard drive!

      The company has hired hackers to test system security.

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hacker British  

/ ˈhækə /

noun

1. a person that hacks

2. slang a computer fanatic, esp one who through a personal computer breaks into the computer system of a company, government, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hackers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hacker

First recorded in 1200–50 hacker for def. 1; Middle English (as surname); see hack ¹, -er ¹; 1965–70 hacker for def. 2

Explanation

A hacker is a skilled computer programmer who uses her abilities to break into the computer systems of companies or organizations. While most people imagine a hacker as a bad guy who steals credit card information, destroys data, or is otherwise malicious and destructive, some hackers break into systems simply to test their security. There are so many hackers today that they've formed a true community and subculture. The earliest use of hacker is from 1983, from hack as "person hired to do routine work," although MIT students in the 1960's reportedly used the word hack to mean "creative prank."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hacker hackers

It’s funny because one of my favorite movies, as every good hacker ‘80s kid would tell you, is “WarGames.”

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

In the wrong hands, an exploit would give a hacker the ability to edit any website built with Ghost.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

The hacker sent by Anthropic to calm the government’s nerves about AI safety.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026

The company reported a personal data breach a few days later before, on 26 July 2022, South Staffordshire found a ransom note that the hacker had unsuccessfully attempted to send to certain members of staff.

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

I'm thinking that not many hacker kids end up here.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan

The U.K. also announced sanctions against hackers responsible for Lumma Stealer, malware that sucks up sensitive information from devices it infects.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

The publication said that AFA sources indicated a group of Egyptian-origin hackers were behind the emails, which also praised Egypt's performance.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

The company's new GPT-5.6 offerings and other cutting-edge AI models, including Anthropic's Mythos series, have drawn concern over their supposedly unprecedented ability to identify weaknesses in code that hackers can exploit.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

No ransom was paid after the unnamed company "evicted" the hackers, the DoJ said.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

It must belong to one of the hackers.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Related Words

• operator
• technician