enshittification.
The phenomenon of online platforms or services gradually degrading in quality, often by promoting advertisements, recurring payment, and sponsored content, in order to increase profits; (loosely) the process of becoming worse.
Meaning & usage
The phenomenon of online platforms or services gradually degrading in quality, often by promoting advertisements, recurring payment, and sponsored content, in order to increase profits; (loosely) the process of becoming worse.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Old French en-bor. Middle English en- English en- Proto-Germanic *skitiz Proto-West Germanic *skiti Proto-West Germanic *-jā Proto-West Germanic *skittjā Old English sċitte Old English *sċite Middle English schite English shit Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -ficātiō Old French -ificationbor. Middle English -ificacioun English -ification English enshittification From en- + shit + -ification. The term was popularized and took its specific meaning from the writings of Canadian-British-American blogger, journalist, and science fiction author Cory Doctorow in 2022–2023, although isolated usage exists from 2013 (see quotations below).
Try it on your idea.
enshittification has 16 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.