The Dota 2 Slang Dictionary Tool explains 95 Dota 2 words and abbreviations: gg, 322, pma, ss, pos 1 to 5, rat, smurf and more, with search, categories and a link for every term.
A single question mark in chat, usually after a mistake or a death. Mostly used to mock.
Throwing a game on purpose, or just losing a won game badly. It comes from a 2013 match-fixing scandal where a pro player bet $322 against his own team.
Leaving a game before it ends. It costs the team a player and gets punished.
Aegis of the Immortal, dropped by Roshan. Its holder comes back to life once after dying.
Away from keyboard. The player is not playing right now.
Aghanim's Scepter. Upgrades an ability or gives a new one, different for every hero.
Attacking buildings without your own creeps nearby. Buildings take less damage then (backdoor protection).
Battle Fury. A farming item that hits every creep around your target.
Black King Bar. Its active makes you immune to most enemy spells for a few seconds. Some spells still go through.
A question to a core: when do you buy Black King Bar? Usually asked when magic spells keep killing them.
Blink Dagger. Teleports your hero a short distance. The classic item to start a fight.
Boots of Travel. Lets you teleport to allied buildings and creeps.
Paying gold to respawn right away after dying.
Cooldown: the time until a spell or item can be used again. "Ult on cd" means it is not ready.
Winning a game that looked lost.
Positions 1, 2 and 3: the heroes that need farm and items.
Walking in front of your first creep wave at the start so it walks slower and the lane meets closer to your tower.
Creep score: your number of last hits (sometimes with denies).
Killing your own creep when it is low, so the enemy gets less experience and no gold.
Finding and destroying enemy wards, usually with Sentry Wards.
Any effect that stops a hero from acting: stuns, hexes, silences, roots.
Removing buffs from an enemy or debuffs from an ally. "Purge" is the old word for it.
Attacking an enemy hero under their own tower, taking tower hits to get the kill.
Dust of Appearance. Reveals invisible heroes near you for a short time.
Easy. A taunt after a kill or a win. Usually starts a fight in chat.
Killing creeps to get gold and experience. A "farmed" hero has lots of items.
Dying again and again, which gives the enemy gold and experience.
Everyone attacks the same enemy hero first.
The dark part of the map where your team has no vision.
A surprise attack on an enemy hero, often by players who come from other lanes.
Good game. Said at the end, or earlier when a team thinks the game is decided.
Good luck, have fun. The polite hello at the start of a game.
Gold per minute and experience per minute: how fast a player farms.
The raised area around a base. Hard to attack uphill, so "taking high ground" is a big step.
Imbalanced: much too strong. "OP" means the same.
Starting a team fight, usually with a big stun or a jump into the enemy team.
An ability every hero has from level 1. Some get stronger as the hero levels up.
Escaping by tricking the chaser, for example through trees or the fog of war.
The areas with neutral creep camps between the lanes. A jungler farms there instead of in a lane.
Hitting an enemy and moving away between attacks, so they cannot hit back.
The killing blow on a creep. Only the hero with the last hit gets the gold.
Healing Lotuses grow in the Lotus Pools and restore health and mana.
A punishment queue for players who abandon or get reported often. You have to win games there to get out.
Mega creeps: once all enemy barracks are destroyed, your lane creeps become very strong.
What is strong right now: the heroes, items and strategies most good players use.
The middle lane, or the player in it.
Hand of Midas. Its active kills a creep for extra gold and experience.
Monkey King Bar. An attack item that helps your attacks hit through evasion.
Matchmaking rating, the number behind your rank medal. Winning ranked games raises it.
A patch makes something weaker (nerf) or stronger (buff).
An extra item slot filled with an item you craft from Madstone. Better tiers open over time.
Every 5 minutes the game switches between day and night. At night most heroes see less.
A new or bad player. In chat it is almost always an insult.
Net worth: your gold plus the value of all your items.
Observer Ward. Gives vision of the area around it.
The lane opposite the enemy safe lane: top for Radiant, bottom for Dire. Harder, because the enemy carry and support play there.
On my way. The player is coming to help.
Out of mana. The hero cannot cast spells right now.
Killing one enemy who is alone before a fight, so the fight becomes five against four.
Positive mental attitude. A reminder to stay calm and keep playing after a bad moment.
The carry. Takes the most farm and should be the strongest hero late in the game. Plays the safe lane.
The mid player. Plays alone in the middle lane and gets strong fast.
The offlaner. Plays the hard lane against the enemy carry and usually starts fights.
The soft support. Helps in lanes, roams for kills and gets a bit more farm than the pos 5.
The hard support. Buys wards and helps the carry in the lane, and takes the least farm.
Leading neutral creeps into your own lane creeps, so they fight each other. Denies the enemy experience and keeps the lane near your tower.
Avoiding fights and taking buildings where the enemy is not.
Barracks, the buildings behind the tier 3 towers. Destroying them makes your lane creeps stronger.
The missing enemy is back in their lane.
Leaving your lane to walk around the map and gank other lanes.
Roshan, the big neutral boss in the river. Killing him gives the Aegis.
Items that spawn on the map at fixed times: bounty runes give gold, power runes give a strong buff.
The lane where your carry farms, close to your own jungle: bottom for Radiant, top for Dire.
Sentry Ward. Shows invisible units and enemy wards around it.
Aghanim's Shard. A cheaper upgrade for one ability of your hero.
Smoke of Deceit. Makes you and nearby allies invisible until you get close to an enemy hero or tower. Used for ganks.
A strong player on a new account with a low rank.
Using an early lead to get stronger and stronger, so it grows like a snowball.
Sange and Yasha, a combined item for melee cores. Also KnS (Kaya and Sange) and YnK (Yasha and Kaya).
Pushing a different lane than the rest of your team, so the enemy has to split up.
The enemy from your lane is missing, so they might be on the way to kill someone. "mia" means the same.
Pulling neutral creeps out of their camp just before the full minute, so a second group spawns next to them.
Positions 4 and 5: the heroes that help the team with wards, stuns and saves instead of farm.
Towers by tier, from the outer tower in each lane (T1) to the two towers at the Ancient (T4).
Upgrades you pick at levels 10, 15, 20 and 25, one of two each time.
Losing a game that was almost won, usually with one bad fight.
Playing worse after getting angry. The cure is PMA or a break.
A neutral boss in a corner of the map. When a team kills it, one of its heroes gets a free Aghanim's Shard.
Town Portal Scroll. Teleports you to an allied building after a short channel.
Power Treads, boots you can switch between Strength, Agility and Intelligence.
Thank you / no problem.
Ultimate, the strongest ability of a hero. Most heroes can learn it at level 6.
Magic Wand. Collects charges when enemies cast spells near you and turns them into health and mana.
Several big ultimates hitting the enemy team at the same time.
Well played. Often together: "gg wp".
No term found. Axe does not know that word either. Maybe it is a swear word.
This tool is created with love for Dota 2 and for helping you to play better every day and rank up! Have Fun and Enjoy!
By Kevin “Kevin10k”·Dota 2 Expert · Mid & Offlane PlayerArticle updated
The Dota 2 Slang Dictionary Tool explains the words players throw around in chat and in guides. 95 terms, from gg to low priority, in plain words. Axe played for years before he found out what "ss" means. He thought it was a sound.
Axe explains
Dota 2 slang in 10 seconds
Short words, long fights. Axe prefers the fights.
These are the words you see most in Dota 2 chat:
New to the game and it all feels like a foreign language? Start with an easy hero from the Beginner Hero Finder. The words come by themselves.
Know all the words now? Test the rest of your Dota knowledge in the Rank Quiz and see which medal it deserves.
Your team calls heroes “NP”, “BM” or “Rylai”? The Hero Nickname Lookup tells you who is who. And if your own name needs work, try the Name Generator.
Somebody wrote "ez" after killing Axe. Axe wrote nothing. Axe killed him next fight. That is the answer to ez.
Players name the five roles by numbers. The lower the number, the more farm the role gets:
Positions 1 to 3 are the cores, 4 and 5 the supports. Supports stack camps for their cores: the Stack Timer tells you when to pull.
Some words only make sense once you know the map. Rax are the barracks behind the tier 3 towers, megas are the mega creeps you get once all enemy barracks are down, and HG is the high ground around a base. A team that rats avoids fights and takes buildings where the enemy is not.
In fights you hear gank (a surprise attack), dive (fighting under the enemy tower) and BKB (Black King Bar, which blocks most enemy spells: the BKB Checker shows which ones still go through). After a lost fight somebody asks for buyback: the Buyback Calculator tells you if you can afford it.
Free guide · Dota2FreaksRank Up Guide: find the one thing holding you backKnowing the words is step one. Five quick questions show the one habit that holds your rank back, with a free mission for your next three games.
Ranks · Dota2FreaksAll Dota 2 ranks and MMR explainedHerald to Immortal: what every medal means and how much MMR you need for it.Every word from the dictionary, sorted by topic. Click a word to open it in the tool at the top.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ?question mark | A single question mark in chat, usually after a mistake or a death. Mostly used to mock. |
| 322 | Throwing a game on purpose, or just losing a won game badly. It comes from a 2013 match-fixing scandal where a pro player bet $322 against his own team. |
| afkaway from keyboard | Away from keyboard. The player is not playing right now. |
| bkb? | A question to a core: when do you buy Black King Bar? Usually asked when magic spells keep killing them.BKB Checker |
| cdcooldown | Cooldown: the time until a spell or item can be used again. "Ult on cd" means it is not ready. |
| ezeasy | Easy. A taunt after a kill or a win. Usually starts a fight in chat. |
| gggood game | Good game. Said at the end, or earlier when a team thinks the game is decided. |
| gl hfglhf, good luck have fun | Good luck, have fun. The polite hello at the start of a game. |
| noobnewbie, nub | A new or bad player. In chat it is almost always an insult. |
| omwon my way | On my way. The player is coming to help. |
| oomout of mana | Out of mana. The hero cannot cast spells right now. |
| PMApositive mental attitude | Positive mental attitude. A reminder to stay calm and keep playing after a bad moment. |
| reback | The missing enemy is back in their lane. |
| ssmia, missing | The enemy from your lane is missing, so they might be on the way to kill someone. "mia" means the same. |
| ty / npthank you, no problem | Thank you / no problem. |
| ultultimate | Ultimate, the strongest ability of a hero. Most heroes can learn it at level 6. |
| wpwell played | Well played. Often together: "gg wp". |
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Core | Positions 1, 2 and 3: the heroes that need farm and items. |
| Mid | The middle lane, or the player in it. |
| Offlanehard lane | The lane opposite the enemy safe lane: top for Radiant, bottom for Dire. Harder, because the enemy carry and support play there. |
| Pos 1carry, position 1 | The carry. Takes the most farm and should be the strongest hero late in the game. Plays the safe lane. |
| Pos 2mid, position 2 | The mid player. Plays alone in the middle lane and gets strong fast. |
| Pos 3offlane, offlaner, position 3 | The offlaner. Plays the hard lane against the enemy carry and usually starts fights. |
| Pos 4soft support, roamer, position 4 | The soft support. Helps in lanes, roams for kills and gets a bit more farm than the pos 5. |
| Pos 5hard support, position 5 | The hard support. Buys wards and helps the carry in the lane, and takes the least farm. |
| Roamroamer | Leaving your lane to walk around the map and gank other lanes. |
| Safe lane | The lane where your carry farms, close to your own jungle: bottom for Radiant, top for Dire. |
| Support | Positions 4 and 5: the heroes that help the team with wards, stuns and saves instead of farm. |
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Creep blockblock | Walking in front of your first creep wave at the start so it walks slower and the lane meets closer to your tower. |
| CScreep score | Creep score: your number of last hits (sometimes with denies). |
| Denydn | Killing your own creep when it is low, so the enemy gets less experience and no gold. |
| Farm | Killing creeps to get gold and experience. A "farmed" hero has lots of items. |
| GPM / XPMgold per minute, experience per minute | Gold per minute and experience per minute: how fast a player farms.Item Timing Calculator |
| Junglejungler | The areas with neutral creep camps between the lanes. A jungler farms there instead of in a lane. |
| Last hitlh | The killing blow on a creep. Only the hero with the last hit gets the gold. |
| NWnet worth | Net worth: your gold plus the value of all your items.Buyback Calculator |
| Pull | Leading neutral creeps into your own lane creeps, so they fight each other. Denies the enemy experience and keeps the lane near your tower. |
| Stack | Pulling neutral creeps out of their camp just before the full minute, so a second group spawns next to them.Stack Timer |
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| BKBBlack King Bar | Black King Bar. Its active makes you immune to most enemy spells for a few seconds. Some spells still go through.BKB Checker |
| Buybackbb | Paying gold to respawn right away after dying.Buyback Calculator |
| Comeback | Winning a game that looked lost. |
| Disablestun, hex, silence | Any effect that stops a hero from acting: stuns, hexes, silences, roots. |
| Dispelpurge | Removing buffs from an enemy or debuffs from an ally. "Purge" is the old word for it. |
| Divetower dive | Attacking an enemy hero under their own tower, taking tower hits to get the kill. |
| Focus | Everyone attacks the same enemy hero first. |
| Gank | A surprise attack on an enemy hero, often by players who come from other lanes. |
| Initiateinitiation, initiator | Starting a team fight, usually with a big stun or a jump into the enemy team. |
| Juke | Escaping by tricking the chaser, for example through trees or the fog of war. |
| Kite | Hitting an enemy and moving away between attacks, so they cannot hit back. |
| Pick-off | Killing one enemy who is alone before a fight, so the fight becomes five against four. |
| Snowball | Using an early lead to get stronger and stronger, so it grows like a snowball. |
| Throw | Losing a game that was almost won, usually with one bad fight. |
| Wombo combo | Several big ultimates hitting the enemy team at the same time. |
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AghsAghanim's Scepter | Aghanim's Scepter. Upgrades an ability or gives a new one, different for every hero.Aghanim's Scepter Lookup |
| BFBattle Fury | Battle Fury. A farming item that hits every creep around your target.Item Timing Calculator |
| BlinkBlink Dagger, dagger | Blink Dagger. Teleports your hero a short distance. The classic item to start a fight. |
| BoTBoots of Travel | Boots of Travel. Lets you teleport to allied buildings and creeps. |
| Deward | Finding and destroying enemy wards, usually with Sentry Wards. |
| DustDust of Appearance | Dust of Appearance. Reveals invisible heroes near you for a short time. |
| MidasHand of Midas | Hand of Midas. Its active kills a creep for extra gold and experience. |
| MKBMonkey King Bar | Monkey King Bar. An attack item that helps your attacks hit through evasion. |
| Neutral itemneutrals | An extra item slot filled with an item you craft from Madstone. Better tiers open over time.Neutral Item Timer |
| ObsObserver Ward | Observer Ward. Gives vision of the area around it. |
| SentrySentry Ward | Sentry Ward. Shows invisible units and enemy wards around it. |
| ShardAghanim's Shard | Aghanim's Shard. A cheaper upgrade for one ability of your hero.Aghanim's Shard Lookup |
| SmokeSmoke of Deceit | Smoke of Deceit. Makes you and nearby allies invisible until you get close to an enemy hero or tower. Used for ganks. |
| SnYSange and Yasha, S&Y | Sange and Yasha, a combined item for melee cores. Also KnS (Kaya and Sange) and YnK (Yasha and Kaya). |
| TPTown Portal Scroll | Town Portal Scroll. Teleports you to an allied building after a short channel. |
| TreadsPower Treads | Power Treads, boots you can switch between Strength, Agility and Intelligence. |
| Wandstick, Magic Wand | Magic Wand. Collects charges when enemies cast spells near you and turns them into health and mana. |
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Aegis | Aegis of the Immortal, dropped by Roshan. Its holder comes back to life once after dying.Roshan Timer |
| Backdoor | Attacking buildings without your own creeps nearby. Buildings take less damage then (backdoor protection). |
| Fogfog of war | The dark part of the map where your team has no vision. |
| HGhigh ground | The raised area around a base. Hard to attack uphill, so "taking high ground" is a big step. |
| LotusHealing Lotus | Healing Lotuses grow in the Lotus Pools and restore health and mana.Lotus Pool Timer |
| Megasmega creeps | Mega creeps: once all enemy barracks are destroyed, your lane creeps become very strong. |
| Night | Every 5 minutes the game switches between day and night. At night most heroes see less.Day/Night Cycle Timer |
| Ratratting | Avoiding fights and taking buildings where the enemy is not. |
| Raxbarracks | Barracks, the buildings behind the tier 3 towers. Destroying them makes your lane creeps stronger. |
| RoshRoshan | Roshan, the big neutral boss in the river. Killing him gives the Aegis.Roshan Timer |
| Runesbounty rune, power rune | Items that spawn on the map at fixed times: bounty runes give gold, power runes give a strong buff.Rune Timer |
| Split push | Pushing a different lane than the rest of your team, so the enemy has to split up. |
| T1 / T2 / T3 / T4tier 1 tower | Towers by tier, from the outer tower in each lane (T1) to the two towers at the Ancient (T4). |
| Tormentor | A neutral boss in a corner of the map. When a team kills it, one of its heroes gets a free Aghanim's Shard.Tormentor Timer |
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Abandon | Leaving a game before it ends. It costs the team a player and gets punished. |
| Feedfeeder | Dying again and again, which gives the enemy gold and experience. |
| ImbaOP, overpowered | Imbalanced: much too strong. "OP" means the same. |
| Innate | An ability every hero has from level 1. Some get stronger as the hero levels up.Innate Ability Lookup |
| Low prioritylow prio, LP | A punishment queue for players who abandon or get reported often. You have to win games there to get out. |
| Meta | What is strong right now: the heroes, items and strategies most good players use. |
| MMRmatchmaking rating | Matchmaking rating, the number behind your rank medal. Winning ranked games raises it. |
| Nerf / buff | A patch makes something weaker (nerf) or stronger (buff). |
| Smurf | A strong player on a new account with a low rank. |
| Talents | Upgrades you pick at levels 10, 15, 20 and 25, one of two each time.Talent Tree Lookup |
| Tilttilted | Playing worse after getting angry. The cure is PMA or a break. |
Throwing a game on purpose, or just losing a won game badly. It comes from a 2013 match-fixing scandal where a pro player bet $322 against his own team.
Positive mental attitude. A reminder to stay calm and keep playing after a bad moment.
The enemy from your lane is missing, so they might be on the way to kill someone. "mia" means the same.
The soft support. Helps in lanes, roams for kills and gets a bit more farm than the pos 5.
Avoiding fights and taking buildings where the enemy is not.
Good game. Said at the end, or earlier when a team thinks the game is decided.
Data: Valve's official Dota 2 datafeed · updated
Axe wants cookies.
