English
Etymology
Trade name. Blend of instant + telegram.[1][2] By surface analysis, insta- + -gram.
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈɪnstəɡɹæm/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Proper noun
- (Internet) An online photo- and video-sharing social networking service, originally designed to mimic old-fashioned instant cameras.
- Megan has 53 posts, follows all her followers and has 41.7k followers on Instagram .
- He posted a gym reel on Instagram.
- 2019 September 25, Kendra Pierre-Louis, “How to Buy Clothes That Are Built to Last”, in The New York Times[1], archived from the original on 11 May 2025:
- According to a survey commissioned by the credit card company Barclay, 9 percent of shoppers in Britain admitted to buying clothes online for Instagram. After posting pictures of themselves wearing the item online, they return it.
- 2020, “Carla's got a boyfriend”, in The Night Chancers, performed by Baxter Dury:
- Carla's got a boyfriend / I spotted him on Instagram / Followed him about a bit
- 2023 June 9, John Mac Ghlionn, “The new Andrew Tate: Toxic ‘manosphere’ podcaster claims ‘all women are whores’”, in New York Post[2]:
- One who is quickly causing controversy — although his 249K Instagram follower tally is a far cry from Tate’s 4.6 million before Tate was banned — is Myron Gaines, co-host of the Fresh and Fit podcast which markets itself as the No. 1 men’s podcast in the world.
Synonyms
Derived terms
- Bookstagram
- Bookstagrammer
- finsta
- finstagram
- foodstagram
- foodstagrammer
- foodstagramming
- 'gram, 'Gram, gram, Gram
- IG
- Ins
- Insta
- Instaceleb
- Instadad
- Instafame
- Instafamous
- Instagrammability, Instagramability
- Instagrammable, Instagramable
- Instagrammer
- Instamom, Instamum
- Instapoet
- Instapoetry
- Instaverse
- Instaworthy
- rinsta
- Studygram
- studygram
- studygrammer
Descendants
- → Ukrainian: і́нста (ínsta)
Translations
online photo-sharing service
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See also
- insta- (“instant”) (long predates Insta; likewise productive of compounds, and ultimately cognate, but essentially homonymic)
Noun
Instagram (plural Instagrams)
- A user's profile or account on this service.
- Have you seen her Instagram lately?
- She's been blowing up my Instagram!
- A photograph or video shared on this service.
- I saw one of her Instagrams last week, but I haven't talked to her since then.
Verb
Instagram (third-person singular simple present Instagrams, present participle Instagramming, simple past and past participle Instagrammed)
- (intransitive) To use the social networking service Instagram.
- 2013 July 5, Lyndsey Winship, “Mårten Spångberg, the bad boy of contemporary dance”, in The Guardian[3]:
- The thinking goes that if the modern audience watches TV on laptops, while Instagramming and checking emails at the same time, why would contemporary artists ignore that and insist on trapping them in a silent black box for an hour?
- (ambitransitive) To post an image or video to Instagram.
- 2012, Nas, No I.D., Patrick Adams, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, Paul Leka, “Daughters” (track 5), in Life is Good, performed by Nas:
- Her mother cried when she answered / Said she don't know what got inside this child's mind, she planted / A box of condoms on her dresser then she Instagrammed it.
- 2014 July 7, Kaitlan Collins, “Kim Kardashian Was Desperate To Leave The Hamptons So She Could Instagram”, in The Daily Caller[4]:
- [see title]
- (ambitransitive) To digitally manipulate a photograph using filter effects.
- 2012, Jefferson Graham, Video Nation, →ISBN, page 160:
- To illustrate, I used B-roll of photos on the iPhone that were being “Instagrammed” (Figure 8.6) with fun filters along with screen captures of Instragram's No. 1 ranking in the iTunes App Store and the Apple website touting the iPhone 4S.
- 2013 May 31, Kory Stamper, “The Spelling Bee turns Twitter into our national sports bar”, in The Guardian[5]:
- In a world where it is de rigueur to announce your wedding on Facebook and show the world artfully Instagrammed pictures of your appendectomy, it's no surprise that the Bee has a social media presence.
- 2014, Reenita Malhotra Hora, Operation Mom, →ISBN:
- There he was, staring cheekily into the camera for a perfectly instagrammed photo which had been touched up to show off his muscles, raw sex appeal and wild, unkempt hair.
- 2014, Rachael Chadwick, 60 Postcards: The inspirational story of a young woman's journey to celebrate her mother, one postcard at a time, →ISBN:
- The cameras were out and we were all trying to get pictures of each other, which we then spent a further half an hour trying to Instagram to make us look as good as possible
References
- ^ Somini Sengupta, Nicole Perlroth, Jenna Worthamapril (13 April 2012) “Behind Instagram’s Success, Networking the Old Way”, in New York Times: “They gave it a new name: Instagram. “We renamed because we felt it better captured what you were doing — an instant telegram of sorts,” Mr. Systrom wrote on Quora, a question-and-answer site that his friend Mr. D’Angelo had started.”
- ^ Kevin Systrom (12 January 2011) “What is the genesis of Instagram?”, in Quora: “[…] we went out on a limb, and basically cut everything in the Burbn app except for its photo, comment, and like capabilities. What remained was Instagram. (We renamed because we felt it better captured what you were doing -- an instant telegram of sorts. It also sounded camera-y)”
Further reading
Anagrams
German
Etymology
Borrowed from English Instagram.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɪnstaˌɡʁam/, /ˈɪnstəˌɡɹɛm/
Audio: (file)
Proper noun
Instagram n (proper noun, strong, genitive Instagrams or Instagram)
Declension
Declension of Instagram [sg-only, neuter, strong]
Further reading
- “Instagram” in Duden online
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English Instagram.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ĩs.taˈɡɾɐ̃/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ĩʃ.taˈɡɾɐ̃/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ĩʃ.tɐˈɡɾɐ.mɨ/ [ĩʃ.tɐˈɣɾɐ.mɨ]
- (Northern Portugal) IPA(key): /ĩʃ.tɐˈɡɾa.mɨ/ [ĩʃ.tɐˈɣɾa.mɨ]
Proper noun
Instagram m
Derived terms
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from English Instagram
Proper noun
Instagram m
Derived terms
Turkish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English Instagram.