hodl
6 synonyms and 3 antonyms for hodl, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Verb — To keep holding a cryptocurrency rather than selling it, particularly while its price is falling.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. verb slang
To keep holding a cryptocurrency rather than selling it, particularly while its price is falling.
“He has hodled the same coins through three crashes without selling any of them.”
Opposites
2. noun slang
The practice or attitude of holding on to a cryptocurrency for the long term instead of trading it.
“Her whole strategy is hodl; she has not made a trade in two years.”
How to use hodl
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Slang, and deliberately so; the misspelling is the point and correcting it to hodl-with-an-l misses the joke. Common in forums, memes and headlines, out of place in formal financial writing.
Etymology
From a misspelling of holding in a 2013 post on the Bitcointalk forum titled I AM HODLING, which was picked up and reused as a term in its own right; it is often backronymed as hold on for dear life, but that reading came afterwards.
Full origin of hodl →Frequently asked questions
Does hodl stand for hold on for dear life?
Not originally. It began as a typing error for holding in a 2013 forum post, and the hold on for dear life reading was invented later to fit the letters. Both explanations circulate, but the misspelling came first.
What is the difference between hodl and diamond hands?
Hodl describes the act of not selling. Diamond hands describes the temperament of someone who does not sell under pressure, and is used as a compliment or a boast. The two overlap, but diamond hands is about the person and hodl is about the behaviour.
Is hodl a real word?
It is real in the sense that dictionaries record words people actually use, and this one has been in continuous use since 2013 across forums, journalism and marketing. It remains slang, and its unusual spelling is fixed; hodel and hoddle are not variants.