Slang dictionary
creepshot
or creep shot
What does creepshot mean?
Creepshot typically refers to a photo taken by a man of a woman or girl in public without her consent. Creepshots typically focus on a woman’s backside, legs, or cleavage.
Where does creepshot come from?
The term creepshot first appears on Twitter in 2009, referring to a photograph, or snapshot, taken of a person without them knowing it, as a creepy person might do, hence the blend creepshot. Over the following years, creepshot largely settled on its more sexualized application, with instances of creepshots (e.g., a picture of an anonymous woman’s butt taken at a mall or grocery store) shared on social media sites and forums, notably Twitter and Reddit.
CNN Journalist Anderson Cooper took on a popular creepshot forum on Reddit, called /r/jailbait in September 2011. The following year, Google searches for the term spiked when it came to the attention of news and opinion outlets that a high school teacher was very likely responsible for posting creepshots of his students to a Reddit forum dedicated to the practice.
In July 2016, Canadian sex educator Yevgeniya Ivanyutenko brought creepshots into a public conversation about privacy on social media, calling for Twitter to crack down on users who share creepshots on specific hashtags, particularly users who only post creepshots.
While creepshots often perversely highlight the attractiveness of a person, they can also be used to shame a person’s appearance. In September 2016, Playboy model Dani Mathers notoriously posted a creepshot online of a naked woman that she found ugly in a gym bathroom, adding, “If I can’t unsee this, then you can’t either.”
Examples of creepshot
Who uses creepshot?
While the term is widely used for sexualized images taken of women, creepshot is still can be used for unsuspecting photographs of people in candid, funny, or unflattering poses. Though the term has a pejorative connotation, posters of creepshots use the term, often with the hashtag #creepshot, along with the many critics of the practice.
Creepshot is also used by cosplayers who are concerned about the practice, even though they may like to wear sexy or provocative costumes. Creepshot can be a verb, too, e.g., “Don’t creepshot people on the bus.”
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of creepshot like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of creepshot that will help our users expand their word mastery.