Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Late 20th century ·1995
Spyware
spy software
- Meaning
- Software that secretly monitors a user and reports information to a third party.
- Source words
- spy + software
- Coined by
- unknown
- Year
- 1995
Background
On the *-ware* template (freeware, shareware, malware). Entered mainstream computing vocabulary with the 2000s surge in toolbar-style PC malware; the word predates mobile-app surveillance by more than a decade.
Late 20th century
Marketing, media, and the early internet. Infomercial, emoticon, workaholic — the coinages name phenomena of mass media and white-collar life. Several predate the decades they're associated with.
Two words, one coinage.
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