Leetspeak 101: History, Alphabet, & Popular Examples

Do you want to learn all about the mysterious coded internet language known as “leetspeak”? Leet, or leetspeak, is a form of internet slang that replaces regular letters with similar-looking symbols and special characters, creating coded words and phrases. Additionally, each standard letter has multiple potential substitutions, making leetspeak extremely varied. In this handy guide, we’ll teach you all about the history and origins of leetspeak and show you the entire leetspeak alphabet (and translate it using our leetspeak translator). Let’s get started!

Leetspeak Meaning

Leetspeak is an informal coded language on the internet. It replaces standard letters with alternate symbols and special characters that resemble letters to create words and phrases. It’s also called leet, eleet, or 1337—which is the word “leet” in numbered leetspeak.

Section 1 of 9:

What is leetspeak?

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Leetspeak is a type of coded writing mainly used on the internet. This intriguing code, or language, is also called “leet,” “eleet,” “hacker speech,” or “1337,” with 1337 being “leet” spelled out in numbers-only leetspeak.^{[1]
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Expert Source

Ibrahim N.
Gaming and Trend Expert

Expert Interview} The name “leetspeak” originates from the word “elite,” referring to “elites” (skilled or accomplished people) in the fields of gaming, coding, and hacking.^{[2]
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- Leetspeak is made up of words, terms, and phrases with modified spellings (and even intentional misspellings).
- Like any language, leetspeak has numerous dialects and variants based on the many different communities that use it.
- Many of the most common leetspeak words have been adapted into internet culture as a whole.
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Leetspeak uses substitutions of other letters and characters. A language’s “orthography” is its conventions—spelling and punctuation norms, capitalization and hyphenation rules, and so on. Leetspeak’s orthography is defined by the substitution of other letters, special characters, and numbers for regular letters to form words. Leetspeak also isn’t uniform; any form of a word that makes sense can be leetspeak, even if it’s made up.^{[3]
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- For example, “4150” can translate to “also” in leetspeak.
- The word “beginner” could be written as “8391NN32” in leetspeak.
- The name “Morgan” could be spelled as “/\/\0|2&4/\/” in leetspeak.
- The band Journey featured the leetspeak word “E5C4P3” on the cover of their album, Escape.
- However, leetspeak is not the same as SMS-speak (which involves substituting “4” as “for” or “2” as “to”). SMS-speak is a slang language originating in late 1990s and early 2000s text messaging.

Section 2 of 9:

Where does leetspeak come from?

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Leet developed in the 80s, during the earliest days of the internet. At that time, people using bulletin board systems (BBS) developed leetspeak—possibly to get past BBS text filters or Internet Relay Chat system operators for message boards. On these boards, having “elite” status granted access to special features (like games and file folders); the term “leet” was eventually coined by the hacker collective known as the Cult of the Dead Cow.^{[4]
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- In its early days, leetspeak was mainly used to discuss prohibited topics (like hacking) on message boards—primarily by computer hackers and crackers.
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Leet later gained mainstream popularity on the internet. Leetspeak was no longer exclusive to hackers; gamers and other online communities adopted it. As more and more people began to use leetspeak, variants of the coded language developed (mainly to get around censorship and online filters). There are now more “basic” forms of leet, as well as more obscure variants that rely heavily on special characters.^{[5]
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- Some people even believe emoticons and ASCII art are forms of leet, although not all leetspeak users agree.
- Certain leetspeak symbols (like the number 1337) have become widespread memes and motifs online.
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Leetspeak is still used ironically (and among gamers and hackers). Leet isn’t as popular as it once was, but it’s still very much used by many people on the internet. Nowadays, you may see it used ironically (to be funny), especially when creating nicknames—and gamers use leetspeak in forums or while playing online games.
- Leetspeak has also influenced different facets of pop culture, from character names to game titles and even marketing campaigns.

Section 3 of 9:

The Purpose of Leetspeak

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Internet users employed leetspeak to establish a unique online identity for themselves, often in the form of usernames, nicknames, and beyond. Some have crafted ciphers using leetspeak and created memes; others use it to chat with their peers, creating a sense of affinity and friendship between members of online communities.^{[6]
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As mentioned above, leetspeak was originally conceived as a way to bypass language filters. Many online forums, websites, and games have such filters and restrictions; therefore, users write in leetspeak as a workaround, allowing them to say what they want without being censored.^{[7]
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Section 4 of 9:

The Leet Alphabet

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Each normal letter has many substitutions in the leet alphabet. For every letter of the alphabet, there are numerous possible leetspeak substitutions—meaning you could potentially spell the name word in different ways, depending on the characters you choose and your style of leetspeak.^{[8]
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Expert Source

Ibrahim N.
Gaming and Trend Expert

Expert Interview} Here’s the entire “leetspeak alphabet” with all substitutions for regular letters:^{[9]
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- A: a 4 /\ @ /- \ ^ (L Д
- B: b I3 8 13 |3 ß !3 (3 /3 )3 |-] j3
- C: c [ ¢ < ( ©
- D: d ) |) (| [) I> ? T) I7 cl |} |]
- E: e 3 & £ € [- |=-
- F: f |= ƒ |# ph /= v
- G: g 6 & (_+ 9 C- gee (?, [, {, <- (.
- H: h # /-/ -\ [-] ]-[ )-( (-) :-: |~| |-| ]~[ }{ !-! 1-1 -/ I+I ?
- I: i 1 | ][ ! eye 3y3
- J: j ,_| _| ._| ._] _] ,_] ]
- K: k >| |< 1< |c | (7<
- L: l 1 7 2 £ |_ |
- M: m /\/\ /V\ [V] |\/| ^^ <\/> {V} (v) (V) ||\ ]\/[ nn 11
- N: n ^/ || /\/ [\] <\> {} /V ^ ท И
- O: o 0 () oh [] p <> Ø
- P: p |* |o |º ? |^ |> |” 9 []D |° |7
- Q: q (_,) ()_ 2 0_ <| & 9 ¶ ⁋ ℗
- R: r I2 9 |` |~ |? /2 |^ lz 7 2 12 ® [z Я .- |2 |- 3 4
- S: s 5 $ z § ehs es 2
- T: t 7 + -|- '] [' † «|» ~|~
- U: u (_) |_| v L| บ
- V: v \/ |/ |
- W: w \/\/ vv \N '// \\' \^/ \/\/ (n) \V/ \X/ |/ \_|_/ \_:_/ uu \\//\\// พ ₩ ω
- X: x >< }{ ecks × ? )( ][
- Y: y j `/ |/ ¥ \// `| ΄
- Z: z 2 7_ -/_ % >_ s ~/_ -\_ - |_

Section 5 of 9:

Leetspeak Grammar

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Leetspeak grammar and spelling require readers to analyze phrases. In other words, you shouldn’t read leetspeak phrases based on their literal structure; you must parse each word out intuitively since misspellings and grammatical errors are part of the code. Leetspeak also frequently turns verbs into nouns (and vice versa), with terminology rooted in typing errors and internet culture.
- Although we’re primarily translating between leetspeak and English here, leetspeak actually relies on many different languages and character sets.
- For example, languages like Greek and Russian also have forms of leetspeak.

Section 6 of 9:

Common Structures in Leetspeak

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-xor (suffix) In leetspeak, the -xor (or -zor) suffix is the equivalent of -er or -or in English. Sometimes, you may also see the “o” in -xor or -zor replaced with a “0.”^{[10]
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- Examples: Haxor, haXXor, suxxor, suxx0r
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-ness (suffix) In leetspeak, the -ness suffix works essentially the same as it does in English, affixed to the end of an adjective to convert it into an abstract noun. Leetspeak just uses the -ness suffix much more often!
- Examples: Lulzness, leetness
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-age (suffix) This suffix is usually attached to the base form of verbs. In leetspeak, “-age” is most often combined with forms of “to be” rather than “to have,” used to describe someone personifying a particular trait (rather than just having it). For example, in leetspeak, you might say, “That was skillage” rather than “She has skillage.”^{[11]
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- Examples: Pwnage, ownage, skillage, speakage
In leetspeak, words that normally end in -ed may be altered, with the “e” replaced by an apostrophe. For example, the term “pwned” is sometimes spelled “pwn’d” instead. Some people choose to exclude the apostrophe, too—which would mean spelling “pwned” as simply “pwnd.”
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-& (suffix) You might also see the & (ampersand) symbol used as a suffix in leetspeak, replacing common suffixes including “-and,” “-anned,” and “-ant.” Essentially, any suffix that sounds like “and” (which is what the ampersand represents) can be replaced with “&” in a word.
- Examples: b& (banned), s&box (sandbox)

Section 7 of 9:

Popular Examples of Leetspeak

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n00b Anyone using the internet in the 2000s has probably seen “n00b” before—and it’s a leetspeak term! It comes from the English word “newbie,” meaning someone new or inexperienced. Leetspeakers online (especially in gaming communities) describe newbies as “n00bs,” especially to differentiate them from the “elites” (older or more experienced members of a group).
- Example: Someone help a n00b out, I don’t know how to play yet!
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pwned “Pwned” is another gaming term that became popular in the 2000s, derived from the word “own” (referring to domination, particularly winning a game against other players). Another version of “pwned” is simply “owned.” Additionally, both terms have been adapted into “ownage” and “pwnage” (referring to the situation of owning or pwning others).^{[12]
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- Example: Ooh, you’ve just been pwned! I am the definition of ownage.
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Haxor and suxxor “Haxor” is leetspeak for “hacker,” utilizing the “-xor” suffix described above. “Suxxor”—a derogatory term and modified version of the verb “to suck”—also uses this -xor suffix. “Suxxor” is popular among gamers, who use it to say that something “sucks.”^{[13]
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- Example: “Man, that really suxxorz!”
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Other popular examples Finally, let’s go over a few more common (but, in some cases, not quite as mainstream) examples of leetspeak that later became part of internet slang. These terms include:^{[14]
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- Warez - A shortened form of “software,” usually in reference to redistributed software
- Phreaking - Hacking telephone systems or non-internet equipment
- Teh (or t3h) - A misspelling of “the,” which can be typed as “teh” or “t3h”
- w00t - A joyful exclamation (like yelling “Woot!”), which can also be an abbreviation of “We owned the other team”
- j00 - The leet form of “you”
- Uber - An adaptation of the German word “über,” meaning “over” or “above”; it’s used as a prefix for adjectives (as in “That’s uber-cool!”)
- Pr0n - Slang for “pornography,” misspelled so language filters wouldn’t detect and reject messages

Section 8 of 9:

Different Types of Leetspeak

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Variations of leetspeak have developed over time. Some leetspeak variants are trickier than others to understand. That’s because one variant mainly uses numbers, while others use special characters and are considered more complicated because of this. Variants include:^{[15]
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- 1337 - This is considered the purest form of leetspeak since it mostly consists of numbers, with only a few other special characters.
- UCE - This abbreviation stands for “unsolicited commercial email.” It’s so-named because this form of leetspeak was initially used to get around email spam filters.
- Ultra 1337 - This is the most complex variation of leetspeak; it uses only special characters, making it very difficult for people unfamiliar with leetspeak to understand.

Section 9 of 9:

Frequently Asked Questions About Leetspeak

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Why is the number 1337 so special? As mentioned above, 1337 stands for “leet,” originating from the word “elite.” The number is an alternate name for leetspeak, especially among the hacker community and gamers.
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What is algospeak, and is it the same as leetspeak? Algospeak is similar to leetspeak in that its main purpose is to bypass online filters and censorship. However, algospeak mainly involves using euphemisms and coded expressions (like “unalive” as opposed to “kill”) to avoid language filters, shadowbanning, and demonetization.
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Is leetspeak related to any programming languages? Not directly, no. However, it does share some similarities with coding languages, particularly in the use of symbols to convey a specific meaning.
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When should you use leetspeak online? You can use leetspeak in any casual online interactions, whether you’re using social media, sending your friend a DM, or posting on a gaming forum.
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Is leetspeak a form of online slang? Yes, it is. It originated among hackers online and gained popularity through the use of online forums and messaging.
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Can you use leetspeak for secure encryption? It’s not a good idea to use leetspeak for secure encryptions; while leetspeak can be confusing to some, it’s still very possible to translate and, therefore, not considered a “secure” code.