# Belfie
A **belfie** is a self-taken photograph of one's own buttocks, a blend of "butt" (or "bum") and "selfie," typically taken to share on social media.[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie) • [2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/belfie) The word is pronounced /ˈbɛlfi/ and is used as a noun with the plural "belfies."[2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/belfie)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Meaning | A "butt selfie": a photograph one takes showcasing their buttocks, especially to share on social media[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie) |
| Etymology | Blend of butt + selfie or bum + selfie; Italian Treccani derives it from B-(side), "lato B," plus (s)elfie[2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/belfie) • [3](https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/belfie_%28Neologismi%29/) |
| Earliest photo | First known butt selfie posted to Instagram on July 18, 2012, tagged #buttselfie along with 18 other hashtags[4](https://knowyourmeme.com/sensitive/memes/butt-selfie-belfie) |
| Word's debut | Urban Dictionary entry in 2013, a month after Kim Kardashian posted such a photo without using the term[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie) |
| Popularizer | Fitness personality Jen Selter, whose "First, let me take a #belfie" tweet is dated June 8, 2014[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie) |
| Merchandise | The Belfie Stick, a selfie stick for rear-facing shots from the photo site ON.com, opened for pre-order at $79.99 in January 2015[5](https://time.com/3658180/belfie-stick/) |
| Dictionary record | Entered Treccani's Italian neologisms vocabulary in 2014[3](https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/belfie_%28Neologismi%29/) |
## Origin and spread
The photograph predates the word. The earliest known example was uploaded to Instagram on July 18, 2012, by a female user who tagged it #buttselfie along with 18 other hashtags, because Instagram lacked its own search function at the time and heavy tag stacking was the only way to make the image discoverable.[4](https://knowyourmeme.com/sensitive/memes/butt-selfie-belfie)
The phrase "butt selfie" first surfaced online on July 28, 2013, and made about 18 recorded web appearances in the following week.[4](https://knowyourmeme.com/sensitive/memes/butt-selfie-belfie) [Dictionary.com](https://www.edgepedia.org/dictionary-com) dates the term's [Urban Dictionary](https://www.edgepedia.org/urban-dictionary) debut to 2013, a month after [Kim Kardashian](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-kardashian) posted a belfie without using the word.[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie) By late 2013, celebrities, fashion models, and adult performers were posting belfies alongside ordinary selfies.[4](https://knowyourmeme.com/sensitive/memes/butt-selfie-belfie)
**Celebrity use drove the trend.** The fitness personality Jen Selter, known for workout photos on Instagram, helped popularize the term with her June 2014 tweet.[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie) Belfie trended further in 2015 and 2016 as publications rounded up celebrity examples; Dictionary.com names [Jennifer Lopez](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-lopez), Demi Lovato, and the [Kardashian family](https://www.edgepedia.org/kardashian-family) as figures dubbed "belfie queens," and notes the word made headlines again in early 2019 after [Kendall Jenner](https://www.edgepedia.org/kendall-jenner) posted notable belfies.[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie) In September 2014, the television host Kelly Ripa told David Letterman on *The Late Show* that she had accidentally sent a belfie of herself in underwear, meant for her husband Mark Consuelos, to her in-laws.[6](https://time.com/3429955/kelly-ripa-belfie/)
## Usage and tone
While anyone can take a belfie, the playful term is used especially of female celebrities.[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie) The hashtag #belfie is especially common in fitness-related social media content showing off or building glute muscles, and racier belfies may be removed or flagged as inappropriate content on platforms.[1](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie) Slang glossaries describe the word as usually carrying a slightly jokey tone, used to label the photo type or caption a post, and note that it now reads as 2010s internet slang rather than current coinage.[7](https://streetslang.com/glossary/belfie/)
## The belfie stick and related blends
The craze produced its own hardware. The Belfie Stick, a selfie stick adapted for rear-facing self-portraits, came from ON.com, a photo-based social media site; its chief technology officer Kevin Deegan told [Business Insider](https://www.edgepedia.org/business-insider) the device followed a spike in users taking butt selfies, and pre-orders opened at $79.99 while the device was out of stock.[5](https://time.com/3658180/belfie-stick/)
Belfie belongs to a family of selfie blends formed by replacing the initial "s" of selfie with the opening sound of the word for what the image shows: the OUPblog language commentator listed helfie (hair), melfie (male, moustache, or Monday), and belfie (butt or bottom) among the coinages.[8](https://blog.oup.com/2014/02/felfie-farmer-selfie/) Other documented members include the welfie (a workout selfie at the gym) and the felfie (a farmer selfie).[9](https://files.schudio.com/uabirkenhead/files/documents/Remote_Learning/selfies-info-sheet.pdf) • [8](https://blog.oup.com/2014/02/felfie-farmer-selfie/) [The Italian](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-italian) encyclopedia Treccani recorded belfie among its 2014 neologisms, analyzing it as English B-(side), in Italian "lato B," combined with (s)elfie.[3](https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/belfie_%28Neologismi%29/)
## References
1. [belfie, Dictionary.com Slang Dictionary](https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/belfie)
2. [belfie, Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/belfie)
3. [Belfie, Vocabolario Treccani, Neologismi (2014)](https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/belfie_%28Neologismi%29/)
4. [Butt Selfie / Belfie, Know Your Meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/sensitive/memes/butt-selfie-belfie)
5. [There's Now a 'Belfie Stick' to Help You Take Photos of Your Butt, Time (January 7, 2015)](https://time.com/3658180/belfie-stick/)
6. [Watch Kelly Ripa Explain Her 'Belfie' Mishap on The Late Show, Time (September 25, 2014)](https://time.com/3429955/kelly-ripa-belfie/)
7. [Belfie Meaning, StreetSlang](https://streetslang.com/glossary/belfie/)
8. [Farmily album: the rise of the 'felfie', OUPblog (2014)](https://blog.oup.com/2014/02/felfie-farmer-selfie/)
9. [Selfies info sheet, Schudio](https://files.schudio.com/uabirkenhead/files/documents/Remote_Learning/selfies-info-sheet.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Visual arts and design › Photography techniques, genres, and history*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license