Colloquial Variant guide

WTF

name · noun · phrase · 6 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

name

Meaning 1

Initialism of World Taekwondo Federation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, dated, initialism

Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: WT

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Initialism of White's tree frog.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A bafflingly bad or unwise design decision.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: slang

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

phrase

Meaning 4

Initialism of what the fuck.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, slang, vulgar

Topics: government, military, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

phrase

Meaning 5

Where the fuck, why the fuck, when the fuck, or who the fuck.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: rare, vulgar

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

phrase

Meaning 6

Alternative letter-case form of WTF.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, alt-of, slang, vulgar

Topics: government, military, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

(programming slang): Originated on The Daily WTF, a humorous blog dealing with real-world examples of bad programming.

Across languages

Translations

40 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Cantonese: 吓? — What the fuck
  • Chinese Cantonese: 乜撚嘢 — What the fuck
  • Chinese Cantonese: 乜鳩 /乜鸠 (mat1 gau1) — What the fuck
  • Chinese: 啥潲 (zh-min-nan) — What the fuck
  • Chinese Mandarin: 我操 (wǒcāo!) — What the fuck
  • Chinese Mandarin: 臥槽 /卧槽 (wòcáo) — What the fuck
  • Chinese Mandarin: 什麼鬼 /什么鬼 (shénmeguǐ) — What the fuck
  • Chinese Mandarin: 三小 (sānxiǎo) — What the fuck
  • Chinese Mandarin: 我艸 — What the fuck
  • Chinese Mandarin: 我艹 (wǒ cào) — What the fuck
  • Chinese Mandarin: 我去 (wǒ qù) — What the fuck
  • Chinese Mandarin: woc — What the fuck
  • German: WZT — What the fuck
  • German: was zum Teufel — What the fuck
  • Hebrew: מה לעזאזל? — What the fuck
  • Indonesian: apa-apaan — What the fuck
  • Italian: che cazzo — What the fuck
  • Italian: che cavolo — What the fuck
  • Portuguese: PQP — What the fuck
  • Portuguese: Que porra é essa? — What the fuck
  • Romanian: CPLM — What the fuck
  • Romanian: ce pula mea? — What the fuck
  • Russian: ЧЗХ (ČZX) — What the fuck
  • Russian: что за хуйня́ (što za xujnjá) — What the fuck
  • Russian: како́го хре́на (kakóvo xréna) — What the fuck
  • Russian: что за хрень (što za xrenʹ) — What the fuck
  • Russian: что за на́хуй? (što za náxuj?) — What the fuck
  • Serbo-Croatian: ЊТФ — What the fuck
  • Slovak: ČTK — What the fuck
  • Spanish: ¿pero qué coño? — What the fuck
  • Spanish: ¿pero qué demonios? — What the fuck
  • Spanish: ¿pero qué cojones? — What the fuck
  • Spanish: ¿qué chucha? — What the fuck
  • Spanish: ¿qué mierda? — What the fuck
  • Spanish: ¿pero qué chingados? — What the fuck
  • Swedish: vad fan — What the fuck
  • Tagalog: puta ano? — What the fuck
  • Turkish: N'oluyor amk — What the fuck
  • Ukrainian: ШЗХ? (ŠZX?) — What the fuck
  • Ukrainian: що за хуй? (ščo za xuj?) — What the fuck