NSFW

abbreviation for

1. not safe for work; not suitable for work: used in an email or other electronic communication as a warning that it contains or links to pornographic, offensive, or other content unsuitable for viewing at work or in public places.

Word History and Origins

Origin of NSFW¹

First recorded in 2000–05

Example Sentences

Donovan sent back three laughing emojis and one that’s NSFW.

From Los Angeles Times

But it also has another meaning that is, let’s just say, NSFW.

From Los Angeles Times

The ongoing Reddit protest over API pricing intensified this week after some moderators added the NSFW, not safe for work, tag to their otherwise appropriate subreddits.

From Washington Times

In 2015, he told an acquaintance, “There is no ‘NSFW’ for me,” abbreviating “not safe for work.”

From Los Angeles Times

She said the company briefly ran digital ads promoting "NSFW" -- "not suitable for work" -- pictures to accompany a short-lived experiment with sending users "hot selfies," but she did not consider the images to be sexual because the Replikas were not fully naked.

From Reuters

About This Word

What does NSFW mean?

NSFW is an abbreviation of the phrase not safe for work or not suitable for work. It describes explicit digital content you wouldn’t want to be caught watching in professional or public places.

NSFW content (in the form of articles, videos, images, etc.) may involve sexual, profane, offensive, violent, or otherwise graphic material—material that can seem all too available on the internet, sometimes.

How is NSFW pronounced?

[ en es ef duhb–uhl-yoo] or [ not seyf fer wurk ]

What are some variants of NSFW?

nsfw

What are some other words related to NSFW?

NSFL
SFW

Where does NSFW come from?

NSFW is first recorded in a 2002 Usenet post explaining how people use the abbreviation to warn employees of adult content, especially as viewed online, in the workplace.

In the 2000s, NSFW expanded as an alert for mature or graphic content not just at work, but in any public or formal space—so much so that by the 2010s, NSFW was already being used as a shorthand for various off-color, risqué remarks and behavior offline, too.

How is NSFW used in real life?

Online, NSFW may appear in headlines, links, hashtags, and introductions to articles to warn readers of mature or sensitive content ahead, often of a sexual or violent nature. The content doesn’t have to be viewed only at a workplace for it to be flagged as inappropriate.

NSFW has been adopted into colloquial speech and writing, too, as a shorthand way to refer to adult content more generally (e.g., a NSFW standup routine). As our previous example shows, NSFW is often used as a modifier: like a NSFW blog or NSFW fan art.

This NSFW trailer for Crossing Swords features clay nudity, sex dungeons, and very cute violence. pic.twitter.com/xohrDwEbpr

— IGN (@IGN) April 29, 2020

A take on NSFW is the more extreme NSFL, Not Safe for Life—describing incredibly offensive or disturbing content.

SFW, or Safe for Work, is used for content that may appear to be questionable but is perfectly clean.

NSFW may also be used alongside the abbreviations CW (content warning) or TW (trigger warning).

The abbreviation NSFW is sometimes referred to as an internet acronym or initialism.

More examples of NSFW:

“Rihanna has dropped the action-packed and very NSFW video for her single …. In it, she takes the song’s lyrics literally as she attempts—and later succeeds—in getting her money through torture and extreme violence.”

—Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, July 2015