What Does OP Mean? How to Use OP Correctly

Advertisement The acronym "OP" is popular online, but its meaning differs depending on the context. Someone on Reddit could use OP in a sentence, and someone on Twitch could do the same, but the meanings would be completely different.

  • The term "OP" can mean two different things online, depending on the context.
  • On social media, OP usually means "original poster" or "original post." 
  • In multiplayer games, especially online, OP tends to mean "overpowered."

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The acronym "OP" is popular online, but its meaning differs depending on the context. Someone on Reddit could use OP in a sentence, and someone on Twitch could do the same, but the meanings would be completely different.

Here's what OP means in either context, and how to successfully incorporate it into your internet vocabulary.

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What OP means on social media

On social media sites, OP usually stands for "original poster" or "original post."

The person who creates a post that others are now replying to, or that first post itself, is the OP. So when someone says OP in this context, they're referring to the person who made the original post, or to the original post itself. 

If you want to refer back to a post's original author, you can call them the OP. DaniloAndjus/Getty Images

OP is commonly used on sites that encourage conversation between users, like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. 

Here's an example showing how it might be used:

  • Reggie posts a tweet that says, "My dog eats so much food. He's only five pounds! Where does he put it!?"
  • A stranger replies to Reggie's tweet with a long-winded response about canine diets.
  • A third person replies to this second tweet, saying, "I think OP was speaking rhetorically." This third person is using OP to refer to Reggie, who wrote the original tweet.

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What OP means in gaming

When used in the context of online gaming, OP stands for "overpowered."

To say that a character, weapon, or skill is OP is to say that they're so strong that it gives the player an unfair advantage over others. It's overpowered because it's better than anything else in the game. 

For example, in 2018, "Fortnite" players gained access to a new weapon called the Infinity Blade. This sword was so much stronger than any other weapon that any player who found it was immediately favored to win. Nearly every player agreed that the Infinity Blade was OP — it was overpowered. As a result, the developers quickly removed the Infinity Blade from the game.

"Fortnite's" Infinity Blade was OP — overpowered. Epic Games

OP has connections to a number of other gaming terms:

  • Something that's OP might also be called "broken" — it's so strong that it seems to break the game.
  • If something is OP, players will often call for it to receive a "nerf" — they want the weapon or skill to be weakened.
  • On the flip side, if something is too underpowered, players might ask for a "buff" — they want it to get stronger. Too many buffs can lead to an item becoming OP.

Routine nerfs and buffs help games stay balanced and fun, and avoid making any item or character too OP.

If someone says, "The new patch nerfed Doomguy so he's no longer OP," they mean that the game's most recent update made the character Doomguy less powerful, to the extent that he's no longer overpowered.

Chrissy Montelli

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