What does frag mean?
Frag means to kill or wound deliberately, most notoriously a fellow soldier or superior officer, originally with a fragmentation grenade — the weapon from which the slang term takes its name. Emerging among American troops during the Vietnam War, fragging became a chilling symbol of breakdown in unit discipline, aimed at officers deemed reckless or abusive. In a completely different register, the word was adopted by video-game culture, where 'to frag' simply means to defeat or kill an opponent's character in a shooter game, and players' scores are tallied in frags. The military sense carries grave connotations of insubordination and violence, while the gaming sense is playful and competitive. Understanding both meanings — and the context that separates them — makes frag a striking example of how a single word can move from battlefield infamy to everyday entertainment vocabulary.
A kill credited to a player in a shooting game; also, in military usage, the act or instance of attacking a fellow soldier with a fragmentation grenade.
"His thirty frags led the tournament leaderboard."
The noun form is chiefly used in gaming contexts to count kills.
To kill or wound a fellow soldier, especially an unpopular superior, with a fragmentation grenade; or, in gaming, to eliminate an opponent.
"Rumors spread that disgruntled conscripts might frag the company commander."
Used almost exclusively in gaming to refer to a tally of kills.
"She finished the round with fifteen frags."
The term comes from the murder weapon itself: American soldiers in Vietnam coined 'frag' from the fragmentation grenades used against their own officers.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of frag
The word arose as American military slang during the Vietnam War era, taking its name directly from the fragmentation grenade used in such attacks. It belongs loosely to the family of English words descending from Latin 'frangere' (to break), which also gives us fragment, fraction, and fragile, though its immediate source was the grenade rather than classical vocabulary. From the 1990s onward, the meaning broadened into video-game slang through early multiplayer shooters such as Quake, where a kill came to be called a frag.
Related word forms
How frag is actually used
'Frag' originated as informal, dark-humored US military slang and carries grim connotations of insubordination and mutiny when used about real violence; in gaming communities it is casual, competitive shorthand with no violent connotation. The two uses should not be conflated in serious writing.
Easily confused with frag
'Fragment' is a piece broken off something and the word that gave 'frag' its name, whereas 'frag' itself refers to the act of attacking someone with a fragmentation grenade.