flash mob
nounEtymology Perhaps from flash crowd, a term coined by Larry Niven in Flash Crowd (1973), a story about cheap teleportation in the future.
1
A group of people who rapidly assemble, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act, and then quickly disperse.
- Called into being on short notice by Web sites and e-mail distribution lists, flash mobs meet at an appointed time, engage in some organized spontaneity for a few minutes, then rapidly disperse. The activities are innocent, if mysterious, and tend to bring together loose groupings of surprisingly conventional looking young adults.2003 August 4, Otto Pohl, “Berlin Journal; What: Mob Scene. Who: Strangers. Point: None.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- Derived terms
- flash mobber, flash rob