"nerf" meaning in English

See nerf in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /nɜːf/ [Received-Pronunciation], /nɝf/ [General-American] Audio: En-au-nerf.ogg Forms: nerfs [plural]
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f Etymology: From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns. Originally used to equate a change in the damage of a weapon in a video game to a change from real weapons to Nerf weapons. Head templates: {{en-noun}} nerf (plural nerfs)
  1. (slang, video games) The deterioration, weakening or worsening of a character, a weapon, a spell, etc. Tags: slang Categories (topical): Video games
    Sense id: en-nerf-en-noun-en:video_games_slang_noun Topics: video-games
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Verb

IPA: /nɜːf/ [Received-Pronunciation], /nɝf/ [General-American] Audio: En-au-nerf.ogg Forms: nerfs [present, singular, third-person], nerfing [participle, present], nerfed [participle, past], nerfed [past]
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f Etymology: Circa 1950s? Head templates: {{en-verb}} nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)
  1. (motor racing, transitive) To bump lightly, whether accidentally or purposefully. Tags: transitive Categories (topical): Motor racing Derived forms: nerf bar, nerf ball, nerf net
    Sense id: en-nerf-en-verb-X1VpdHF5 Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, motor-racing, racing, sports
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Verb

IPA: /nɜːf/ [Received-Pronunciation], /nɝf/ [General-American] Audio: En-au-nerf.ogg Forms: nerfs [present, singular, third-person], nerfing [participle, present], nerfed [participle, past], nerfed [past]
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f Etymology: From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns. Originally used to equate a change in the damage of a weapon in a video game to a change from real weapons to Nerf weapons. Head templates: {{en-verb}} nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)
  1. (transitive, slang, video games) To change a mechanic, an ability or a character in a video game in order to make a previously dominant strategy less viable or less effective. Tags: slang, transitive Categories (topical): Video games Synonyms: gimp
    Sense id: en-nerf-en-verb-en:video_games_slang_verb Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English genericized trademarks, Entries with translation boxes, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Sicilian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Turkish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 18 26 43 12 Disambiguation of English genericized trademarks: 16 20 59 5 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 18 33 42 7 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 16 29 46 10 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 15 26 53 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 16 25 53 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 15 27 52 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 10 18 68 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 15 27 52 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Sicilian translations: 12 21 61 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 17 26 52 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Turkish translations: 12 21 62 5 Topics: video-games
  2. (transitive, slang) To arbitrarily limit or reduce the capability of. Tags: slang, transitive Translations (to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity): nerfer (French), nerfen (German), nerfare (Italian), ナーフ (nāfu) (Japanese), nerfar (Portuguese), не́рфить (nérfitʹ) [imperfective] (Russian), поне́рфить (ponérfitʹ) [perfective] (Russian), nirfari (Sicilian), nerfear (Spanish), nerflemek (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-nerf-en-verb-en:transitive_slang Disambiguation of "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity": 28 72
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: debuff, worsen, deteriorate, cripple, declaw, defang, degenerate Derived forms: stealth nerf
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "Circa 1950s?",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nerfs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Motor racing",
          "orig": "en:Motor racing",
          "parents": [
            "Automotive",
            "Sports",
            "Transport",
            "Human activity",
            "All topics",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Fundamental",
            "Human"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "nerf bar"
        },
        {
          "word": "nerf ball"
        },
        {
          "word": "nerf net"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "A racer will often nerf another as a psychological tactic.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1953, Henry Gregor Felsen, Street Rod, Random House, page 129:",
          "text": "\"The crazy fool!\" Ricky exclaimed. \"Nerfing me!\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To bump lightly, whether accidentally or purposefully."
      ],
      "id": "en-nerf-en-verb-X1VpdHF5",
      "links": [
        [
          "motor racing",
          "motor racing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(motor racing, transitive) To bump lightly, whether accidentally or purposefully."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "motor-racing",
        "racing",
        "sports"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɜːf/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/nɝf/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-nerf.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg/En-au-nerf.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)f"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "en:nerf (disambiguation)"
  ],
  "word": "nerf"
}

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "ameliorate"
    },
    {
      "english": "game slang",
      "word": "buff"
    },
    {
      "word": "improve"
    },
    {
      "word": "renew"
    },
    {
      "word": "renovate"
    },
    {
      "word": "revamp"
    }
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "stealth nerf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns. Originally used to equate a change in the damage of a weapon in a video game to a change from real weapons to Nerf weapons.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nerfs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Video games",
          "orig": "en:Video games",
          "parents": [
            "Games",
            "Mass media",
            "Software",
            "Recreation",
            "Culture",
            "Media",
            "Computing",
            "Human activity",
            "Society",
            "Communication",
            "Technology",
            "Human behaviour",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 26 43 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 20 59 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English genericized trademarks",
          "parents": [
            "Genericized trademarks",
            "Terms by etymology",
            "Trademarks",
            "Terms by usage"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 33 42 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 29 46 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 26 53 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 25 53 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 27 52 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 18 68 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 27 52 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 21 61 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Sicilian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 26 52 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 21 62 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Turkish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The lightning spell was originally pretty powerful, but in the sequel they nerfed it so it became completely useless.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To change a mechanic, an ability or a character in a video game in order to make a previously dominant strategy less viable or less effective."
      ],
      "id": "en-nerf-en-verb-en:video_games_slang_verb",
      "links": [
        [
          "video game",
          "video game"
        ],
        [
          "mechanic",
          "mechanic"
        ],
        [
          "ability",
          "ability"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "dominant",
          "dominant"
        ],
        [
          "viable",
          "viable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, slang, video games) To change a mechanic, an ability or a character in a video game in order to make a previously dominant strategy less viable or less effective."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:video games slang verb"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "gimp"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "video-games"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019 May 17, Fred Lambert, Electrek, retrieved 2019-05-19:",
          "text": "Tesla nerfs Autopilot in Europe due to new regulations",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To arbitrarily limit or reduce the capability of."
      ],
      "id": "en-nerf-en-verb-en:transitive_slang",
      "links": [
        [
          "arbitrarily",
          "arbitrarily"
        ],
        [
          "limit",
          "limit"
        ],
        [
          "reduce",
          "reduce"
        ],
        [
          "capability",
          "capability"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, slang) To arbitrarily limit or reduce the capability of."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:transitive slang"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "word": "nerfer"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "word": "nerfen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "word": "nerfare"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "nāfu",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "word": "ナーフ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "word": "nerfar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "nérfitʹ",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "не́рфить"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ponérfitʹ",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "поне́рфить"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "scn",
          "lang": "Sicilian",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "word": "nirfari"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "word": "nerfear"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
          "word": "nerflemek"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɜːf/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/nɝf/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-nerf.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg/En-au-nerf.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)f"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "debuff"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "worsen"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "deteriorate"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "cripple"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "declaw"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "defang"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "degenerate"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Nerf",
    "en:nerf (disambiguation)"
  ],
  "word": "nerf"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns. Originally used to equate a change in the damage of a weapon in a video game to a change from real weapons to Nerf weapons.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nerfs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "nerf (plural nerfs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Video games",
          "orig": "en:Video games",
          "parents": [
            "Games",
            "Mass media",
            "Software",
            "Recreation",
            "Culture",
            "Media",
            "Computing",
            "Human activity",
            "Society",
            "Communication",
            "Technology",
            "Human behaviour",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The deterioration, weakening or worsening of a character, a weapon, a spell, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-nerf-en-noun-en:video_games_slang_noun",
      "links": [
        [
          "video game",
          "video game"
        ],
        [
          "deterioration",
          "deterioration"
        ],
        [
          "weaken",
          "weaken"
        ],
        [
          "worsen",
          "worsen"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "weapon",
          "weapon"
        ],
        [
          "spell",
          "spell"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, video games) The deterioration, weakening or worsening of a character, a weapon, a spell, etc."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:video games slang noun"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "video-games"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɜːf/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/nɝf/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-nerf.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg/En-au-nerf.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)f"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Nerf",
    "en:nerf (disambiguation)"
  ],
  "word": "nerf"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English genericized trademarks",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 6 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)f",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)f/1 syllable",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Sicilian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Turkish translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "nerf bar"
    },
    {
      "word": "nerf ball"
    },
    {
      "word": "nerf net"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "Circa 1950s?",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nerfs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "en:Motor racing"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "A racer will often nerf another as a psychological tactic.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1953, Henry Gregor Felsen, Street Rod, Random House, page 129:",
          "text": "\"The crazy fool!\" Ricky exclaimed. \"Nerfing me!\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To bump lightly, whether accidentally or purposefully."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "motor racing",
          "motor racing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(motor racing, transitive) To bump lightly, whether accidentally or purposefully."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "motor-racing",
        "racing",
        "sports"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɜːf/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/nɝf/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-nerf.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg/En-au-nerf.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)f"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "en:nerf (disambiguation)"
  ],
  "word": "nerf"
}

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "ameliorate"
    },
    {
      "english": "game slang",
      "word": "buff"
    },
    {
      "word": "improve"
    },
    {
      "word": "renew"
    },
    {
      "word": "renovate"
    },
    {
      "word": "revamp"
    }
  ],
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English genericized trademarks",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 6 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)f",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)f/1 syllable",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Sicilian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Turkish translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "stealth nerf"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns. Originally used to equate a change in the damage of a weapon in a video game to a change from real weapons to Nerf weapons.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nerfs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nerfed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "en:Video games"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The lightning spell was originally pretty powerful, but in the sequel they nerfed it so it became completely useless.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To change a mechanic, an ability or a character in a video game in order to make a previously dominant strategy less viable or less effective."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "video game",
          "video game"
        ],
        [
          "mechanic",
          "mechanic"
        ],
        [
          "ability",
          "ability"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "dominant",
          "dominant"
        ],
        [
          "viable",
          "viable"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, slang, video games) To change a mechanic, an ability or a character in a video game in order to make a previously dominant strategy less viable or less effective."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:video games slang verb"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "gimp"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "video-games"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019 May 17, Fred Lambert, Electrek, retrieved 2019-05-19:",
          "text": "Tesla nerfs Autopilot in Europe due to new regulations",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To arbitrarily limit or reduce the capability of."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "arbitrarily",
          "arbitrarily"
        ],
        [
          "limit",
          "limit"
        ],
        [
          "reduce",
          "reduce"
        ],
        [
          "capability",
          "capability"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, slang) To arbitrarily limit or reduce the capability of."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:transitive slang"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɜːf/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/nɝf/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-nerf.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg/En-au-nerf.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)f"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "debuff"
    },
    {
      "word": "worsen"
    },
    {
      "word": "deteriorate"
    },
    {
      "word": "cripple"
    },
    {
      "word": "declaw"
    },
    {
      "word": "defang"
    },
    {
      "word": "degenerate"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "word": "nerfer"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "word": "nerfen"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "word": "nerfare"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "nāfu",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "word": "ナーフ"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "word": "nerfar"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "nérfitʹ",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "не́рфить"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ponérfitʹ",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "поне́рфить"
    },
    {
      "code": "scn",
      "lang": "Sicilian",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "word": "nirfari"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "word": "nerfear"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "to arbitrarily limit or reduce one's capacity",
      "word": "nerflemek"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Nerf",
    "en:nerf (disambiguation)"
  ],
  "word": "nerf"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English genericized trademarks",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 6 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)f",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)f/1 syllable",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Sicilian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Turkish translations"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_text": "From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns. Originally used to equate a change in the damage of a weapon in a video game to a change from real weapons to Nerf weapons.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nerfs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "nerf (plural nerfs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "en:Video games"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The deterioration, weakening or worsening of a character, a weapon, a spell, etc."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "video game",
          "video game"
        ],
        [
          "deterioration",
          "deterioration"
        ],
        [
          "weaken",
          "weaken"
        ],
        [
          "worsen",
          "worsen"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "weapon",
          "weapon"
        ],
        [
          "spell",
          "spell"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, video games) The deterioration, weakening or worsening of a character, a weapon, a spell, etc."
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:video games slang noun"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "video-games"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɜːf/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/nɝf/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-nerf.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg/En-au-nerf.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/En-au-nerf.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)f"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Nerf",
    "en:nerf (disambiguation)"
  ],
  "word": "nerf"
}

Download raw JSONL data for nerf meaning in English (9.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.