CS:GO Dictionary: A Complete Guide to Counter-Strike Slang

Counter-Strike has a steep learning curve and getting to grips with the terminology can be a tremendous factor in how well you adapt to the game.

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1g: where a player accidentally kills themselves with an incendiary grenade or Molotov. Jaryd “summit1g” Lazar did exactly that at DreamHack Austin in 2016, losing his team the game.

A

AC (Anti-cheat): a program used to detect cheating
Ace: when a player kills all five enemies in a single round
ADR (average damage per round): a value that displays how many points of damage a player dealt in a single round
Aimbot: a cheating program that allows players to automatically shoot at enemies without manually aiming themselves
Aimpunch: when a player’s screen shakes from side to side because of their lack of armor
Anchor: a player who holds a bomb site on defense on the edges of the map
Anti-eco: a situation where a team with rifles must win the round against another team who has pistols
Anti-flash: when a player looks at a wall to avoid the effects of a flashbang, usually used against attacking terrorists
Anti-strat: a situation where a team knows the strategy of another, and they predict what their opponent will do
Auto: a semi-automatic shotgun (XM-1014) or sniper (SCAR-20/GSG9)

B

Bait: a player using their teammate to lure an enemy into an unfavorable situation
Bhop (bunny hop): a skilled movement that allows players to traverse the map quicker than normal
Boost: when a player allows their teammate to move into an elevated position by crouching and letting them jump on their head

C

Crabwalk: a movement where a player crouches and moves around the map with a pistol or knife.
CT (Counter-Terrorist): the defending team on a bomb defusal or hostage map
Clutch: a situation where a lone player wins the round when they’re sorely outnumbered
Crossfire: a situation where players look at the same entrance into a defending bomb site
Comp: a 30-round competitive game typically played in Matchmaking
Counter-boost: when a player is boosted into a position that’s common for an enemy team to use
Counter-strafe: an instance where a linear movement is stopped by pressing the opposite key (e.g. A and D, W and S). This is used to set a player’s velocity to zero for the most accurate aim possible
Cyka blyat: a Russian insult (“whore bitch”) commonly said as a joke

D

Default: a standard strategy used by a team at the start of a round
Demo: a replay video of a previous match
Dink: a headshot that may or may not kill a player
DM (deathmatch): a free-for-all game mode commonly used in a warm-up routine
Drop: a player gives their teammate a weapon
Dry-peek: a situation when a player aggresses another without the use of a flash

E

Eco: a round that involves a team collectively saving their money because they have insufficient funds for more powerful weapons
Eco-frag: a player gets a kill with a pistol against a better-equipped player
Economy: the system of buying weapons for both offensive and defensive sides
Entry-frag: a player gets a kill while entering the bomb site on offense
EPL (ESL Pro League): an international CS:GO league hosted by tournament organizer ESL
Exec: a team clears out the site on offense with the use of grenades and coordinated pushes
Exit-frag: a kill attained by a Counter-Terrorist on a Terrorist when they leave the bomb site after the bomb explodes, mainly done to hurt the enemy team’s economy
EZ (easy): a term used to describe a situation or team as easy, commonly used in an unsportsmanlike manner

F

Fake: an act of deception against an enemy player or team to increase their chances of winning
Flash: a blinding flashbang grenade
Flick: a player quickly aims towards a target and kills them, usually performed with an AWP sniper rifle
Force (buy): a player or team buys weapons even when their money is low because a round win is essential to winning the game or gaining momentum
FPL (FACEIT Pro League): a region-based CS:GO league where professional players practice in matchmade games on FACEIT’s third-party platform
Frag (top/bottom): a player who is either performing the best or the worst in the kill column on their team
Full save: a round where a team must not spend any money whatsoever because of their low funds

G

Gamble stack: a defending team sends more players to a specific bomb site than what is normal, despite the chances that the attackers go to the other bomb site
GG (good game): a gesture of sportsmanship typed into chat after a game
Glass cannon: a player wields the AWP sniper rifle without kevlar
GLHF (good luck have fun): a gesture of sportsmanship typed into chat before a competitive game starts
Grief: an act that involves a player intentionally losing the game either to purposely lower their rank or to troll other players

H

Hand cannon: a player wielding the Desert Eagle pistol
HF (have fun): a gesture of sportsmanship similar to GLHF
HS (%): a percentage of a player’s headshot kills compared to kills without headshots

I

IGL (in-game leader): a player that creates strategies for their team before or during a round
IBP (iBuyPower): a computer manufacturer who previously sponsored the infamous North American team that was banned from Valve Majors for match-fixing. That team consisted of AZK, Skadoodle, swag, DaZeD, and steel.

J

Jiggle peek: a movement performed by quickly pressing ADAD close to a wall to bait out a shot from a player holding an angle of the map
Juan Deag (One Deag): an enemy is killed in one shot, usually a headshot, by the Desert Eagle pistol
Jump throw: a set grenade is thrown by aiming at a spot on the map and jumping

K

KQLY: a player kills another while jumping. It was also made notorious by VAC-banned French star Hovik “KQLY” Tovmassian on Dust II’s A bombsite because his infamous play was performed there
Kobe: a kill attained by throwing an HE grenade, usually from a distance
KZ: a game mode used in community servers to help players practice their movement

L

Legged: an AWPer deals 87 damage to a person’s leg instead of another part of the body
Lit: a term used with a number to call out how much damage a player has lost (e.g. Lit 95; 100 – 95 = 5 HP)
Lurk: a player whose role is to silently traverse the map in a way that can catch the enemy team off guard at the right time

M

MM (Matchmaking): an abbreviation for competitive Matchmaking on Valve servers
Molly: an incendiary grenade or molotov cocktail

N

NA (North America): an adjective for something that is sub-par; made popular by the “North American Counter-Strike” (NA CS) meme where NA players are generally considered worse than European players
Nade stack: a group of players throws multiple HE grenades into an area
Net graph: a setting displayed with the developer console command “net_graph 1” that shows your own ping, frames per second (FPS), tickrate, packet loss, and choke
Ninja defuse: a player performs a bomb defusal successfully while another team is unaware
NS (nice shot): a gesture of sportsmanship used to commend a teammate or enemy for killing another player with skilled aim
NT (nice try): a phrase used to encourage a teammate after a situation that was lost
N1 (nice one): a phrase, sometimes used sarcastically, to commend a player or team’s decision-making during a play

O

One Tap: a kill that is attained by shooting a player once in the head, typically done with the AK-47 or Desert Eagle
One Way: a well-positioned smoke that allows players to see through it while the enemy cannot

P

Peek: a movement used to look into a choke point
Play for picks: a tactic performed on either offense or defense that is meant for a team to play passive, safe, and loose, while also trying to kill the enemy team
Playing off contact: a player hides/stays hidden and waits for their teammate to make first contact with the enemy team before finally making themselves known to the enemy team
Pop-flash: an instance where a player throws a flashbang well enough to fully blind an enemy, preventing that enemy from reacting so that they look away in time
Pre-aim: a player preemptively puts their crosshair at an angle before peeking, anticipating an enemy to be within their crosshair when they peek
Pre-fire: a player predicts a player to be in a position and fires their weapon the instant they peek
PUG (pick-up game): a matchmade game performed on a third-party server such as ESEA or FACEIT

Q

Quasi-buy: a type of buy where a team has a variety of weapons, like a rifle, SMG, and/or pistol, and they can still buy the next round based on their money
Queue: a player waits for a matchmade game to be found. The act of finding a matchmaking game with other players

R

Rage hack: a player who begins cheating during the game in response to them losing the round
Reset: a team wins a round after the enemy team won a round, effectively putting the enemy’s money in ruins by resetting their round loss bonus and forcing them to save money for the next round or two
R-dub (RWS): a value on the ESEA third-party service that shows a player’s contribution to their team’s overall success
Rotate: a player moves from one bomb site to another
Rush: a player or team moves into a bomb site on offense immediately at the start of the round to catch the other team off guard

S

Save: a player intentionally hides from the enemy team to preserve a weapon for the next round when they know the round is already lost
Script: a line of code that goes directly into a player’s game configuration (auto exec). Also used to describe players who are aided by cheats (e.g. bunny hopping)
Smurf: a skilled player uses an alternate account to play with others less skilled in lower ranks
Spinbot: a cheater whose player model spins relentlessly so that they cannot be killed as easily
Strafe: a linear movement done by holding a single key (e.g. W)
Strat: a shortened term for strategy
Support: a player whose role within a team is to hold bomb sites for the majority of a round and to throw assisting grenades, such as a flashbang, for better chances of winning
Swag7: another term for the MAG-7 defensive shotgun

T

T (Terrorist): the offensive team on a bomb defusal or hostage map
Tagged: a word used to describe a player whose health is low (e.g. a SSG-08 sniper body shot), similar to “Lit”F
Tilt: a player becomes angry at the outcome of a round or game and performs poorly because of it
TK (team-kill): a player kills their teammate, usually by accident
Throw: a player intentionally loses the round or game, similar to “Grief”
TO (tournament organizer): a company that runs CS:GO tournaments (e.g. ESL or DreamHack)
Toggle: a player shows signs of cheating inconsistently throughout a game like the flick of a switch

U

Utility: an umbrella term used to describe how many grenades, kevlar/helmets, and/or defuse kits a team or player has

V

VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat): the official program created by game creator Valve that detects and bans cheaters on Valve servers
Volvo: a nickname for game developer Valve

W

Walling: a player who can see their opponents through walls with the help of a cheat program
Whiff: a player misses a shot
Wide-peek: an instance where a player strafes around a corner/angle with a slightly greater distance than usual while closer to the wall
WP (well played): a gesture of sportsmanship used to commend a teammate or enemy for a good play

X

Xhair: a shortened term for crosshair
X-ray: the ability to see through walls while watching a previous game demo; done by enabling the developer console command “spec_show_xray 1”

Y

Yprac: a website that creates helpful practice maps for honing a specific skill (e.g. prefire practice)

Z

Zeus’ed: a player is killed by the Zeus x27 taser