Spoiler is a piece of information about a film, book or electronic game which can spoil the enjoyment¹ of someone experiencing it for the first time.

Spoiler指与电影、书籍或者游戏内容有关的信息，即我们所说的“剧透”，这类信息会大大减少初看者了解剧情或者参与游戏的兴致。

This sense of spoiler has been around since the mid-1990s, and initially² referred to pieces of information which reveal elements of the plot of a film or book. Since proper enjoyment of a plot depends on dramatic tension and suspense³, prematurely⁴ discovering what is going to happen "spoils" the experience that the viewer or reader has when watching or reading for the first time. The usage was later applied⁵ in the gaming world, where it refers to pieces of information which signal the solution to a game or puzzle and therefore deny the user the pleasure of working things out for themselves.

Spoiler用作“剧透”之意始于上世纪90年代，最初指透露电影或书籍情节的信息。故事情节的欣赏主要有赖于扣人心弦的紧张气氛和悬念，如果提前得知后面的情节发展就会“破坏”（spoil）初看者欣赏故事的体验。后来，spoiler一词也被用于游戏领域，指对游戏通关有提示性作用的信息，有了这样的信息，游戏玩家就完全丧失凭借自己的实力玩通关的乐趣了。