noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:S P AY1 W EH2 R
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Programs that surreptitiously monitor and report the actions of a computer user.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Internet, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
computer software that obtains information from a user's computer without the user's knowledge or consent
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Etymology tree English spy Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Germanic *samþuz /*samftuz Proto-Germanic *-jaz Proto-West Germanic *-ī Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) Old English sōfte Middle English softe English soft Proto-Germanic *warō Proto-West Germanic *waru Old English waru Middle English ware English -ware English softwarebf. English -ware English spyware From spy + -ware.
Across languages
Translations
61 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
بَرَامِج تَجَسُّس
(barāmij tajassus)
— program
Armenian:
լրտեսածրագիր
(lrtesacragir)
— program
Azerbaijani:
casus proqram
— program
Belarusian:
шпіёнскае праграмнае забеспячэнне
(špijónskaje prahramnaje zabjespjačennje)
— program
Catalan:
programari espia
— program
Chinese Mandarin:
間諜軟件 /间谍软件
(jiàndié ruǎnjiàn)
— program
Chinese Mandarin:
間諜軟體 /间谍软体
(jiàndié ruǎntǐ)
— program
Czech:
špehovací software
— program
Czech:
spyware
— program
Danish:
spionprogram
— program
Dutch:
spyware
— program
Estonian:
nuhkvara
— program
Finnish:
vakoiluohjelma
— program
French:
logiciel espion
— program
French:
espiogiciel
— program
Georgian:
ჯაშუში პროგრამა
(ǯašuši ṗrograma)
— program
Georgian:
ჯაშუშური პროგრამა
(ǯašušuri ṗrograma)
— program
German:
Spyware
— program
German:
Spionagesoftware
— program
Hebrew:
רוגלה
— program
Hungarian:
kémszoftver
— program
Hungarian:
kémprogram
— program
Indonesian:
perangkat pengintai
— program
Italian:
spyware
— program
Japanese:
スパイウェア
(supaiwea)
— program
Korean:
스파이웨어
(seupaiweeo)
— program
Latvian:
spiegprogrammatūra
— program
Macedonian:
шпионски софтвер
(špionski softver)
— program
Malay:
perisian pengintip
— program
Malay:
perisian perisik
— program
Malay:
perisian intip
— program
Norwegian Bokmål:
spionprogramvare
— program
Norwegian Bokmål:
spionprogram
— program
Norwegian Bokmål:
spyware
— program
Norwegian Nynorsk:
spionprogramvare
— program
Norwegian Nynorsk:
spionprogram
— program
Persian:
نرم افزارهای جاسوسی
— program
Polish:
oprogramowanie szpiegujące
— program
Polish:
oprogramowanie szpiegowskie
— program
Portuguese:
spyware
— program
Romanian:
program spion
— program
Russian:
шпио́нское ПО
(špiónskoje PO)
— program
Russian:
шпио́нское програ́ммное обеспече́ние
(špiónskoje prográmmnoje obespečénije)
— program
