bot
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A computer-controlled character in a video game.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bahtIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɑt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
video games
A computer-controlled character in a video game, especially a multiplayer one.
The larva of a botfly, which infests the skin of various mammals, producing warbles, or the nasal passage of sheep, or the stomach of horses.
computing
A piece of software designed to perform a task (often a minor but repetitive one) automatically or on command, especially when operating with the appearance of a (human) user profile or account.
britishslang
The bottom or backside.
verb
Australiainformal
To ask for and be given something with the direct intention of exploiting the thing's usefulness, almost exclusively with cigarettes.
britishslang
To bugger.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (video games) A computer-controlled character in a video game, especially a multiplayer one.
Used this way, bot is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a computing use: it carries a fixed technical meaning inside software and systems work.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technology
- Technical/specialist writing
- Business/professional
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bot
- “The customer service bot quickly answered my basic questions online.”
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.