Doxx

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To publicly expose another person's private details, such as their home address or phone number, on the internet, often to harass them
2. Revealing a person's confidential personal information online without their permission, typically as a way of intimidating or harassing them
3. Publishing someone's identifying private data on the web against their wishes, usually with the aim of causing them trouble or distress

Etymology: "Doxx" is a respelling of "docs," which is itself a clipped form of "documents." The spelling has a neat logic to it: "docs" was already shorthand for documents, and "doxx" swaps the final sound for an "x" to make a verb out of it. That shift turns the noun-like shorthand into an action, as in to publicly reveal someone's personal information. The "x" spelling is what gives the word its edge. Writing "doxx" rather than "docs" mirrors the way "hacks" became "hax" and "pwn" was deliberately misspelled in online culture, using a letter that looks sharp and slightly illicit. The spelling itself signals that the word belongs to internet slang rather than formal English.

Synonyms: dox