English edit

 
A man in a banana costume photobombing a group photo of some Halloween partygoers.

Etymology edit

From photo +‎ bomb.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈfəʊtəʊˌbɒm/
  • (file)

Verb edit

photobomb (third-person singular simple present photobombs, present participle photobombing, simple past and past participle photobombed)

  1. (transitive) To unexpectedly appear in a photograph, especially so as to ruin the picture.
    • 2010 September 6, Renato Gandia, “Labour Day rivalry rekindled among fans”, in Calgary Sun[1], archived from the original on 10 September 2010:
      Edmonton Eskimos fans taunt a Calgary Stampeders mascot who photobombed their group photo. [image caption]
    • 2011 May 31, Ted Casablanca, John Boone, “Caught! Is Matthew Morrison Too Hot to Handle?”, in E! Online[2]:
      Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet snuck into a few snapshots too, photobombing some of the other celebs and making funny faces.
    • 2012, Let's Go Budget Rome, Let's Go Publications, →ISBN, pages 57–58:
      Or you could just grab a beer from a side street cafe and photobomb the fountain pictures of unsuspecting tourists.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:photobomb.

Translations edit

Noun edit

photobomb (plural photobombs)

  1. An act of photobombing.
    • 2012 March 27, “Best photobomb EVER! Returning Navy sailor surprises grandmother by jumping in a photo on her birthday”, in Daily Mail[3]:
      His[sic] person who uploaded the video, who appears to be Ellis' father, wrote in his description that the photobomb was not the only surprise welcome they staged that day.
    • 2012 August 1, Lucy Carne, “John Coates' son photobombs the Queen at London Olympics Opening Ceremony”, in The Telegraph[4], Sydney:
      Twitter was also filled with comments about the Queen photobomb.
  2. A photo containing someone or something that is photobombing.
    • 2008 August 21, Burt Constable, “Phelps fatigue, feuds and flaps mean Olympics can't end soon enough”, in Daily Herald[5]:
      Athletes are celebrated just for competing. Russian gymnast Anna Pavlova, who recorded an imperfect 0.00 for one of her vault attempts, could try to land a photobomb of herself mugging in the background of all those photos that will be taken of Phelps lugging around his gold.
    • 2012 October 9, Andrea Denhoed, “A Few Words About The Stingray Photobomb”, in The New Yorker[6]:
      Today, the photo can be labelled a photobomb, which implies a narrative of surreptitious sabotage, connects the stingray to a whole tribe of obnoxious pranksters, and makes the ray look like his smile might contain a hint of frat-boyish dissolution.

Translations edit

Further reading edit

Spanish edit

Noun edit

photobomb m (plural photobombs)

  1. photobomb