# What does opp mean?

Canonical: https://postmesh.app/glossary/opp

By PostMesh team. Published 2026-10-31; updated 2026-10-31.

Opp stands for Opposition or opponent. Opp is short for opposition or opponent: someone working against you, a rival or an enemy. It's usually plural, opps. It began in hip-hop and drill lyrics about real conflict, and online it's now often a joke about any annoying adversary.

## What opp means

An opp is someone on the other side. [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang/opps) defines opps as your opposition or opponents, and notes that the singular, opp, exists but the plural is far more common. You'll hear about "the opps" as a group more often than about one opp in particular. Merriam-Webster gives the pronunciation as AHPS, like the start of opposite.

The word covers a wide range. At one end, it means real enemies in a serious, sometimes violent conflict. At the other end, it's a joke about anyone who's in your way: the coworker who keeps scheduling 8 a.m. meetings, the rival team's fans, the person who took the last parking spot. Merriam-Webster notes that opps is often used jokingly, and often for adversaries who may be real or imagined.

That range is why context matters so much. A teenager joking that their little brother is an opp is not saying the same thing as a drill lyric about opps, even though the word is identical.

**Joking**
- Anyone mildly annoying or in your way
- Coworkers, siblings, rival fans
- Example: my roommate is an opp for eating my leftovers

**Serious**
- Real enemies in a real conflict
- The original sense in drill lyrics
- Not something to play with

*Most opps online are jokes. The word's roots are not.*

## Where opp comes from

Merriam-Webster says opps originated in hip-hop lyrics, where it first described people one was in potentially deadly conflict with, and later broadened to all kinds of antagonists. [Know Your Meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/opp-opps) calls it African American Vernacular English slang popularized through hip-hop and rap, commonly understood as short for opposition. It points to older songs that used the full word opposition, including LL Cool J's Rock the Bells from 1985, as possible precursors.

The earliest known use of opp that Know Your Meme found is Chief Keef's 2011 track John Madden, uploaded to YouTube on October 30, 2011. [Black America Web](https://blackamericaweb.com/2026/09/17/what-does-opp-stand-for/) likewise ties the modern sense to Chicago's drill scene in the early 2010s, spreading as drill reached a national and then international audience. Know Your Meme says use stayed fairly limited until 2016, when it took off alongside Chicago drill, and that rappers including Travis Scott, Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert helped popularize it later in the decade.

From there it moved into everyday posting. Know Your Meme says the earliest viral uses on Twitter came in 2018, and that jokes about opps were collecting hundreds of thousands of likes by 2021 and 2022. Merriam-Webster cites a 2022 New Yorker piece noting that drill rappers used social media to speak directly to allies and to the enemies they called opps.

- 1985: LL Cool J uses opposition in Rock the Bells, a possible precursor (Know Your Meme)
- October 2011: Earliest known opp, in Chief Keef's John Madden (Know Your Meme)
- Early 2010s: The word becomes tied to Chicago drill (Black America Web)
- 2016: Use takes off alongside Chicago drill (Know Your Meme)
- 2018 onward: Viral tweets carry it into joking everyday use (Know Your Meme)

*Sources: Know Your Meme and Black America Web.*

## The serious sense

It's worth being plain about where the word started. In drill, opps are rival crews, and the conflicts described in some songs involve real violence. Merriam-Webster's citations include a 2024 New York Daily News report on a federal case in which prosecutors pointed to lyrics about opps found in a defendant's cell.

That doesn't make every use of the word dark. Most people saying it online are joking, and the joke works precisely because the word sounds dramatic. But it explains why opp can feel heavier than rival or hater, and why some people wince when brands and strangers toss it around.

## How people use opp on social media

Online, opps has become a dramatic way to describe small annoyances. Merriam-Webster's examples include someone asking why they have 50-year-old opps at work, a Reddit user calling prom a house party directed by opps, and an Instagram post about catching an opp off guard at the grocery store and taking their cart. The humor comes from the mismatch: street-war language applied to office politics and shopping trips.

On [TikTok](/platform/tiktok), opps is common in skits and in comments about rival fan bases. On [X](/platform/twitter), it's used for sports rivals, political opponents and anyone who disagrees with you in the replies. Know Your Meme also has a separate entry for the phrase consider yourself an opp, which people post to declare someone an enemy, usually tongue in cheek. In group chats, it's a quick way to complain about an ex, a landlord or a slow-walking tourist.

On [Instagram](/platform/instagram), it turns up in captions on photos with friends (us against the opps) and in comments on rival schools' or teams' posts. The word also gets used as a label for actions rather than people. "Opp behavior" means doing something an enemy would do, like spoiling a show's ending or leaving one bite of dessert in the container. Paired with [no cap](/glossary/no-cap) or [ts](/glossary/ts), it gets even more dramatic, which is the point.

- Group chat: "the opps scheduled another meeting at 4:55 on a Friday"
- Sports reply: "opps are quiet tonight after that loss"
- Post about a sibling: "my brother finished the cereal, consider yourself an opp"
- TikTok caption: "me avoiding my opps at the family reunion"
- Comment on a bad review of your favorite album: "opp behavior"
- Post about a neighbor: "the opps next door started mowing at 7 a.m."

## How to reply when someone calls you an opp

Nearly every time, it's a joke and the right reply is another joke. Being declared an opp for eating someone's fries isn't a threat. If it ever seems serious, treat it as you would any other hostile message.

**How did they call you an opp?**
- A friend over something small → It's a bit. Play along: guilty, I'll buy the next round.
- A rival fan in the replies → Banter. Reply with a score, or don't reply at all.
- In a group chat as a running joke → Lean in or return fire. Nobody means it.
- In a way that feels threatening → Don't engage. Block and report it on the platform.

- To a friend: "I'm not an opp, I'm a supporter who ate your fries"
- To a rival fan: "opps check the scoreboard"
- To a coworker joke: "fair, I did book that 8 a.m."

## When not to use it

Opp is fun among friends, but it carries weight. Keep it out of work emails and professional posts, where calling a colleague or competitor an opp can sound hostile even if you're joking. Skip it in anything about real conflicts, crime or violence, where it stops being funny fast.

Brand accounts should be especially careful. The word comes out of a specific music scene rooted in Black communities, and its original sense involves real danger. A brand calling its competitors opps can read as trying too hard at best and as making light of violence at worst. Fans of a brand calling each other opps is their business. The brand joining in is a different thing.

**Fine to say opp when**
- [ ] You're joking with people who know you
- [ ] The opp in question is something small, like a roommate or a rival team
- [ ] It isn't about a real conflict, crime or violence
- [ ] It isn't a work email, a professional post or a customer reply
- [ ] You aren't posting as a brand

## Other meanings of OPP

Not every OPP is a rival. A few other meanings turn up, and context usually makes it obvious which one you're looking at.

| Form | What it means | Where you'll see it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Opp or opps | A rival, enemy or opponent | Hip-hop, drill, social media |
| Opp. | An abbreviation for opposite, per Merriam-Webster | Dictionaries, technical writing |
| O.P.P. | Other people's property, from Naughty by Nature's 1991 song | Older hip-hop, per Black America Web |

Black America Web explains that Naughty by Nature's O.P.P. stood, in its clean version, for other people's property, a playful euphemism for getting involved with someone else's partner. That's a completely different word from today's opps. If someone your parents' age sings O.P.P., they don't mean their rivals.

It also helps to know how opp differs from its everyday cousins. A hater dislikes you or your work, often from a distance. A rival competes with you for the same thing. An opp is framed as actively against you, which is why the word sounds more dramatic than either, and why it's so satisfying to use about something as small as a parking spot.

Opp sits alongside other slang about trust and loyalty. Calling someone [sus](/glossary/sus) means they seem suspicious, which is often how someone becomes an opp. Swearing [on God](/glossary/ong) or saying [fr](/glossary/fr) is how people insist they're serious. And a [ratio](/glossary/ratio) is one way to beat an opp in the replies without saying a word about them.

## Questions

### What does opps mean in texting?

It means your rivals or enemies. In texts it's usually a joke about people who annoy you, like coworkers, exes or a rival team.

### Is opp short for opponent or opposition?

Both readings are common. Merriam-Webster defines opps as opposition or opponents, and Know Your Meme says it's commonly understood as short for opposition.

### What does it mean to be called an opp?

Someone is calling you their enemy, usually as a joke over something small. If it's a friend, it's banter.

### Where did the word opp come from?

It comes from hip-hop. Know Your Meme traces the earliest known use to a 2011 Chief Keef track, and the word became closely tied to Chicago drill.

### Is opp the same as O.P.P.?

No. O.P.P. is a 1991 Naughty by Nature song about other people's property, meaning someone else's partner. Today's opps are rivals.

### Is it OK to say opps?

Among friends as a joke, generally yes. Avoid it at work, on brand accounts and anywhere it could be read as a real threat.

## Related terms

- [Sus](https://postmesh.app/glossary/sus)

- [Ratio](https://postmesh.app/glossary/ratio)

- [ONG](https://postmesh.app/glossary/ong)

- [FR](https://postmesh.app/glossary/fr)

- [No cap](https://postmesh.app/glossary/no-cap)

- [TS](https://postmesh.app/glossary/ts)

## Sources

- [Merriam-Webster: Opps (slang)](https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang/opps)

- [Merriam-Webster: Opp (abbreviation)](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opp)

- [Know Your Meme: Opp / Opps](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/opp-opps)

- [Black America Web: The hip-hop history behind the phrase OPP](https://blackamericaweb.com/2026/09/17/what-does-opp-stand-for/)