Bloatware

Noun · Slang & Abbreviations

Definitions

  1. Software that has become excessively large, slow, or resource-hungry relative to its functionality. Also: unwanted pre-installed applications on new devices that nobody asked for and everyone uninstalls.

    In plain English: Software that uses way more resources than it should, or unwanted apps that come pre-installed on a new phone or computer.

  2. In the context of web development, bloatware describes websites and apps that ship megabytes of JavaScript for simple functionality. A 'bloated' bundle often results from importing entire libraries to use a single function.

    Example: 'The landing page ships 4MB of JavaScript for a contact form and a hero image. That's web bloatware — it could be 50KB of HTML.'

    Source: web development context

Related Terms