😜 To jump into photo 😜 A photo prank

to photobomb

1 6.6

To suddenly appear in someone else's photo to be funny

verb
/ˈfoʊtoʊbɑːm/

Slang

: fotobombear

We laughed when our friend tried to photobomb the couple's wedding picture.
get photobombed

And her sole purpose is to take your selfie in space with the earth photobombing you.

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Examples

- Didn't mean to photobomb you.

The Angry Birds Movie (2016)
Ugh, the old lady photobombed me.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (2017)
He totally photobombed you.

Hot Pursuit (2015)
During the group photo, Sarah decided to photobomb by jumping in the background with a funny face.
At the beach, he couldn't resist photobombing strangers' selfies with exaggerated poses.

Antonyms

to stay out of it

66 3.8

To avoid getting involved in an argument or fight

How Obtrusive

to steal the show

Informal

15 3.7

to photobomb

Slang

1 6.6

to pop up

244 3.5

to appear

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

photobomb infinitive

photobombed past

photobombed past participle

photobombing present participle

photobombs third person singular

Morphology

photobomb = bomb (semi-transparent) = photo + bomb

This is a playful formation built from 'photo' and 'bomb', but the modern prank sense is only partly predictable from the literal components.

Etymology

Photobomb mixes photo (used in 'photograph' and related to 'light') and bomb ('explosion' or sudden surprise). So to photobomb someone is to 'explode' into their picture—appear suddenly in a photo to spoil it or make it funny.