troll
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɹɒl/
ipa: /tɹəʊl/
ipa: /tɹɑl/
ipa: /tɹoʊl/
rhymes: -ɒl
rhymes: -əʊl
Forms: form: trolls
Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle English trollen (“to go about, wander; to move (something) to and fro, rock; to roll; to turn”) [and other forms], of uncertain origin; perhaps in part from Old French troller (“to run here and there; to walk aimlessly, ramble, stroll; (hunting) to wander about looking for game”) (modern French troller); further etymology uncertain, yet probably from or related to Middle High German trollen (“to stroll, walk with short strides”) (modern German trollen (“to move slowly, trundle; to push off, toddle off”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *truzlōną (“to lumber”), which is probably related to *trudaną (“to step on, tread”) (see further at etymology 1). Doublet of trull.
Verb sense 4.2.2 (“to fish using a line and bait or lures trailed behind a boat”) is possibly influenced by trail and/or trawl.
The noun is probably derived from the verb. Noun sense 4 (“person who makes or posts inflammatory or insincere statements in an attempt to lure others into combative argument”) is possibly influenced by troll (etymology 1).
Cognates
* Middle Low German drullen (“to stroll”) (Low German trullen (“to troll”))
Senses: examples: text: They [legislators] reduce men to looſe counters merely for the ſake of ſimple telling, and not to figures vvhoſe povver is to ariſe from their place in the table. […] The troll of their categorical table might have informed them that there vvas ſomething elſe in the intellectual vvorld beſides ſubſtance and quantity.
ref: 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 274:
glosses: An act of moving round; a repetition, a routine.
topics: fishing
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: An act of fishing by using a running fishing line, or by trailing a line with bait or lures behind a boat.
topics: fishing
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: A fishing line, bait, or lure used to fish in these ways.
synonyms: bait
flamebait
ragebait
glosses: An inflammatory or insincere statement posted in an attempt to lure others into combative argument (a flame war), originally a way for regulars (long-time users) to poke light-hearted fun at new posters (especially in Usenet newsgroups) and promote in-group cohesion ("trolling for newbies").
examples: text: Katie Hopkins: My Fat Story 9pm, TLC The professional troll and one-time Apprentice stirrer piles on the pounds in order to shed them in this two-part doc, which feels at times like an overly long This Morning item.
ref: 2014 December 19, “Friday 2 January's best TV”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Nov 2023:
text: That tendency to overdo it became visible as the worst kind of trolling on the internet about a decade ago, when griefers exported their habits from the gaming world into the larger world. […] From there, attacking people head-on—though almost always cloaked in anonymity—wasn't a big leap. And so much more on the internet became like a game, only the score consisted of attention, outrage or approval from like-minded trolls.
ref: 2016 June 8, Quentin Hardy, “How gaming helped launch the attack of the internet trolls”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2023:
text: It was the place you went, shrouded in anonymity, for pornography, hard-core racism, revenge porn, Nazi cheerleading, Jew-baiting, creepshots, fat-shaming, mindless anarchy and pictures of dead kids or of women who had been beaten. If anyone bothered to look, Reddit was proof that on the internet, the trolls were in charge.
ref: 2018 October 30, David Streitfeld, “Where trolls reigned free: A new history of Reddit [review of We are the Nerds: The Birth and Tumultuous Life of Reddit, the Internet's Culture Laboratory (2018) by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin]”, in The New York Times Book Review, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 May 2023:
text: But [US Vice President J.D.] Vance has his own agenda, and he poorly served his president in service to it. What is his agenda? To be America’s foremost troll.
ref: 2025 February 28, Jonah Goldberg, “Dishonor and Incompetence in the Oval Office”, in The Dispatch:
text: Amid a dispute over deportations with Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro in January, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform an AI-generated image of himself wearing a fedora with the letters FAFO in red on a sign next to him. “This is awesome,” Musk said, resharing the image on X. Trump had previously reshared a post by right-wing internet troll that said “5 days until FAFO” alongside an image of Trump, on Jan. 15, five days before Trump’s second-term inauguration.
ref: 2025 May 29, Miranda Jeyaretnam and Chad de Guzman, “From MAHA to TACO—A Guide to the Acronyms of Trump’s Second Term”, in TIME:
coordinate_terms: griefer
glosses: A person who makes or posts inflammatory or insincere statements in an attempt to lure others into combative argument for purposes of personal entertainment or to manipulate their perception, especially in an online community or discussion.
examples: text: Already, U.S. operatives in both parties have made early efforts at using trolls for political gain. Rogue progressives stealthily launched fake social media campaigns against Roy Moore, the GOP nominee for Senate in Alabama, during a 2017 special election. Their campaign aimed to confuse voters into thinking Moore supported banning alcohol and that Russian bots were working on his behalf.
ref: 2019 November 19, Shashank Bengali, Evan Halper, “Troll armies, a growth industry in the Philippines, may soon be coming to an election near you”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 May 2023:
text: Social media accounts tied to a group of Russian trolls are amplifying claims of election fraud, according to researchers at the Election Integrity Partnership, a coalition of misinformation experts.
ref: 2020 November 3, Sheera Frenkel, “Russian internet trolls are amplifying election fraud claims, researchers say”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2023:
text: "The Dissident" saw as many as 500 low audience scores, out of just 2,400, flood the popular film-rating site Rotten Tomatoes on Jan. 12, filmmakers said, an act they believe came from trolls operating on behalf of the Saudi government to create a false sense of popular dissatisfaction.
ref: 2021 January 21, Steven Zeitchik, “An alleged Saudi troll campaign is targeting a movie about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Jan 2021:
text: And, perhaps unsurprisingly, pro-war Chinese trolls denounced the authors – who are based in Nanjing, Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai – as "shameful" and "traitorous". "Why did you not say anything during the west's invasion in Iraq," one quipped sarcastically.
ref: 2022 February 28, Vincent Ni, “‘They were fooled by Putin’: Chinese historians speak out against Russian invasion”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2023:
topics: government
politics
glosses: A person who sows discord, or spreads misinformation or propaganda, in order to promote an agenda as part of an organized political campaign.
examples: text: The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.
ref: 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting: The president proposes a new round of intellectual-property reform”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Oct 2022, page 55:
hyponyms: copyright troll
patent troll
trademark troll
glosses: A company, person, etc., that owns and legally enforces copyrights, patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights in an aggressive and opportunistic manner, often with no intention of commercially exploiting the subjects of the rights.
examples: text: At the opening of every club night he is called in to sing his "Confession of Faith," which is the famous old drinking trowl from Gammer Gurton's needle.
ref: 1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Little Britain”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number VII, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, pages 106–107:
text: And thence the catch and troll, while "laughter, holding both his sides" sheds tears to song and ballad pathetic on the woes of married life, and all the ills that "our flesh is heir to."
ref: 1845, [John] Wilson, The Genius, and Character of Burns (Wiley and Putnam’s Library of Choice Reading), New York, N.Y.: Wiley and Putnam, […], →OCLC, page 103:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A song the parts of which are sung in succession; a catch, a round.
glosses: A small wheel; specifically (fishing), the reel or winch of a fishing line.
qualifier: except British
glosses: A trolley.
glosses: Obsolete form of trull (“a harlot”).
Derived terms: concern troll
copyright troll
don't feed the troll
fantroll
feed the troll
Internet troll
online troll
patent troll
RIP troll
trademark troll
trollable
troll army
troll bot
trollery
troll factory
troll farm
troll-friendly
trollish
trollishly
trollism
trollist
trollistic
trollistically
troll job
troll plate
untrollable
Wintroll