Esports terms & jargon explained for bettors and new fans
Are you new to esports betting? Learn the top gaming terms and pro slang to level up your experience on Gamdom.
Esports slang and jargon: Keep up with the pros
Esports has its own language, and you need to understand it to keep up with gaming news and trends. Without a grip on these terms, even the savviest punter can miss key insights and end up with the wrong expectations. Take a minute to browse through this Gamdom glossary of gaming terms.
Key takeaways:
- Understanding esports jargon helps bettors follow matches, news, and betting markets more accurately.
- Gaming terms vary by genre because of their difference in game mechanics. There are a few shared jargon, but there’s a long list of exclusive words for each one.
- Watching streams and reading community posts are effective ways to learn and reinforce esports vocabulary.
Below are common gaming terms used across popular esports title, broken down into genres. It will help you navigate the gaming terminology with the proper contexts while also getting the direct definitions for each word/phrase.
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What is esports terminology, and why does it matter?
‘Esports terminology’ refers to the list of words gamers use, and you’ll find it in both casual and competitive settings. This language evolved as part of the culture surrounding multiplayer games, forming a unique vocabulary that can be confusing to newcomers.
Learning esports gaming terminology is important because most gaming news and Gamdom esports markets use jargon. It might be difficult to keep up unless you have a basic understanding of the top esports terms.
These terms are easy to learn and understand through contextual learning, and they’re usually in English, so it serves as a workaround to esports language barrier.
Top esports terms you should know
Below are the lists of the top esports terms you need to know to keep up with gaming news. They are divided into categories based on the contexts you’ll find them in. Some are used generally in the whole gaming ecosystem, while others are genre-specific.
General gaming terms
The professional scene for every video game is isolated from each other, but there are common grounds in terms of esports jargon. This happened because each space ended up sharing elements with each other until they became generally associated with competitive gaming in general.
| The term | The meaning |
| GG | Abbreviation for ‘good game’. Players say this as a mark of sportsmanship. |
| Meta | The most effective or popular item/strategy in the most recent update. |
| Tilt | A player is ‘tilted’ if they start playing badly due to frustration. |
| Buff | A strategy, item, or character that has been improved through a patch update, usually to make it more effective or balanced. |
| Debuff | A strategy, item, or character is weakened by an in-game mechanic. |
| Nerf | A strategy, item, or character is weakened by a patch update. |
| Clutch | When a player (often the last one alive) secures a win against the odds, especially in a high-pressure situation. |
| OP/Broken | A strategy or item is overpowered, borderline unfair. |
| Noob | Shorthand from ‘newbie’, referring to a player who makes rookie mistakes. |
| DPS | Abbreviation for ‘damage per second’ with two meanings. It can be the total damage output in statistics or one of the player’s roles as the optimal damage dealer. |
| DOT | Abbreviation for ‘damage over time’. It refers to how many hit points are taken away per tick while the effect lasts. |
| AOE/AoE | Abbreviation for ‘area of effect’. This is the affected space by an ability, a weapon, or a hazard. |
| Toxic | This refers to a negative behaviour, a player with a hostile attitude, or an unpleasant environment for everyone involved. |
| Snowball | A strategy where a team builds an early lead and uses it to dominate the rest of the game, gaining momentum and control. |
| Ping | The measure of network delay between a player's device and the game server, usually measured in milliseconds (ms). Lower ping = smoother gameplay. |
| Camper | It refers to someone waiting in one spot to instant-kill opponents. |
| Push | Taking the initiative towards the objective, usually during a temporarily advantageous moment. |
| Map | This has two meanings. A map can refer to the in-game place where the players are fighting or one of up to three games in a best-of-three match. |
| First blood | Achievement earned as the first player to kill an opponent on the map. |
| Objective | This is one of the goals a team must complete to win or gain an advantage. |
| Ban-pick | Many competitive esports begin every map with both sides taking turns to ban some of the in-game selections, like characters or map pool choices. |
MOBA-specific terms (League of Legends and Dota 2)
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games pit two teams against each other with a shared objective: destroy the enemy base. These games focus heavily on map control, coordination, and tactical timing as each side pushes toward the opposing base.
Here is the esports glossary used in MOBA games:
| The term | The meaning |
| Farm | The act of earning or taking resources, usually done by killing creeps. |
| Creep | This is a non-player character (NPC) that players can kill to farm. |
| Deny | The act of destroying creep, structure, or teammates to stop opponents from farming. |
| Camp | A location on the map where neutral creeps can spawn. |
| Base | The corner where teams respawn, heal, or buy items and stay safe. |
| Lane | One of three (or fewer) paths connecting the two opposing bases. |
| Gank | The act of moving towards a different lane to kill an opponent or help an ally in trouble. |
| Carry or lane carry | This player’s role is to provide the team’s damage output in the end game. Until then, their task in the early game is to maintain their respective lane. |
| Support | A role focused on assisting teammates through healing, crowd control, vision control, or utility spells. Supports typically help carries survive and thrive throughout the game. |
| Jungler or farmer | A role that clears neutral camps in the jungle to gain gold and experience without taking resources from lane teammates. Junglers also roam to assist lanes and secure objectives. |
| Tower | A defensive structure positioned in each lane that attacks enemy units and players. Destroying towers is a key objective to gain map control. |
| Fog of war | Places in the map that your side has no vision over. |
| Ward | An item or ability used to gain vision on a small part of the map. |
| TP | Abbreviation for ‘town portal’ originally from Dota. Also short-hand for ‘teleport’. It is the ability to relocate a player to a distant allied unit. |
FPS terms (Counter-Strike 2, VALORANT, and Overwatch 2)
First person-shooter (FPS) is a fast-paced and highly tactical video game genre where coordinated mobility is the key to victory. Therefore, the esports lingo used in these games needs to be short and direct to guarantee effective communication.
Here’s the list of all words used in FPS games specifically:
| The term | The meaning |
| Spray | To shoot all bullets in a general direction or at a target. |
| Wallbang | To shoot at an enemy through the walls (if game mechanics allow it). |
| Eco round | The round is where teams decide to conserve their resources for later. |
| Loadout | The set of equipment or abilities that make up a player’s kit. |
| Full buy | Using up resources to buy a player’s full loadout. |
| Half buy | Buying only half or less of a player’s loadout to conserve resources. |
| Lurker | It refers to a player who moves alone to scout ahead or flank. |
| AWPer or operator | A team member who holds the sniper rifle (often referring to the rifle called ‘AWP’). |
| Trade kill | When a player immediately kills the opponent who just eliminated their teammate, keeping the numbers even. |
| Flashbang | A utility item or ability that temporarily blinds any player looking at it when it detonates. |
| Smoke | An ability or utility item that creates a lingering effect, obscuring vision. |
| Molly | Short-hand for ‘Molotov’, but also refers to any item or ability that creates an AoE with DOT on all units standing on it. |
| Utility | Refers to an item in a player’s loadout that isn’t a gun. |
| One-tap | Killing an enemy with one shot, usually a headshot with a rifle. |
| Frag | A kill. |
| Fragger | The person whose loadout is optimised for killing. |
| Entry fragger | The person tasked to initiate engagements to push for the objective. |
Battle Royale
Battle Royale is a video game genre where multiple players or teams compete on the same map until only one remains. Some titles, like Apex Legends, use a first-person shooter perspective, but the genre itself is defined by its last-player-standing format, not by the camera view or shooting mechanics.
In this type of game, you can expect to see the following gaming lingo:
| The term | The meaning |
| Drop | The landing spot where a squad decides to land at the start of the game. |
| Loot | Weapons, modifications, and utility items found on the ground. It’s often generated on the spot, but may also come from fallen players’ inventory. |
| Storm | Environmental hazards are steadily encroaching on the map. Players inside the storm take consistent damage. |
| Zone or circle | The marked area on the map remains safe from the storm. It becomes smaller as time progresses, forcing surviving squads to engage. |
| Squad wipe | Every member of the same team is eliminated, removing their squad from the match. |
| Down | The state in which a player becomes incapacitated after taking lethal damage. If not revived within a set time (varies by game), the downed player is eliminated. |
| Rez | Short-hand for ‘resurrect’. It is the act of helping a down player up or to bring them back in the game after being eliminated. |
| Kill leader | The person in the match who has the most number of kills without dying. |
Real-world applications for esports jargon
You might be wondering, ‘Do I need to know this esports jargon if I’m not a player?’ The answer is yes, especially if you follow gaming news or watch matches. Understanding the lingo helps you keep up in real time and get the most out of the experience.
Understanding esports terminology helps you follow matches in real time and makes it easier to grasp what commentators are saying as the action unfolds. It also gives you insight into how others interpret the game, helping you form sharper opinions and expectations. This kind of knowledge is especially valuable when making informed decisions in live esports betting and outright predictions.
Tips for mastering esports glossary terms
If you want to improve your understanding of gaming terms, then follow these tips:
- Watch gaming streams — Gaming terms are frequently used live by streamers. It comes naturally to them, often without skipping a beat during stressful in-game situations. Exposure to this lets you absorb the jargon better than just reading glossaries because they are being used in context.
- Read blogs or forum posts — Just like streamers, casual players speak in the game’s or genre’s common language. This is easier to follow than streams because you can backread parts you want to clarify. Remember to find this content in dedicated spaces (like groups or subreddits for a specific esports).
- Look up definitions — There is no harm in using Google or this Gamdom glossary if you forgot the definition of a gaming terminology. Keep it open in a tab so you can refer to it when you need to. Learning definitions takes time, so cut yourself some slack if you forgot what a word means, even if you hear it often.
Learn the language to keep up with esports trends
Mastering esports terminology isn’t just for pro players but a must for anyone who wants to stay sharp and engaged. Whether you're grinding ranked games or placing bets on CS2, VALORANT, or Dota 2, knowing the lingo lets you follow the action with confidence and clarity. Keep this guide handy and head to Gamdom to put your esports knowledge to good use.
