Moderators are assigned to "moderate" something which means they are in charge of seeing that it does what it is supposed to do and nothing more.

Most moderators are driven mad by their lust for power and will cause suffering and hatred at every turn because it makes them happy to see others unhappy.

What the other definitions here leave out is that moderators aren't just for forums or websites. There are moderators of sorts in games, chat rooms and many other places. All of them are nerdy teenages who get back at life for making them monsters by taking their anger out on anyone they can.

(n.)Someone who moderates a chatroom or message board. There are generally five types of moderators:

1. Asswipe: Moderator that likes to punish members for little or no reason, harasses members and then punishes them for harassing back or questioning them, or is an asshole in general to those around him, not including his suckup friends, who will respond to his powerabuse with: "lol", "pwned bitch", or "wut a fag".

2. Strict Moderator: Follows the rules by the book, no exceptions. Any rule infraction spotted will be punished, often without warning. Normally dreaded.

3. Do-Nothing Moderator: Moderator that acts more like a member than a moderator, only intervening in serious matters that require mod attention. Usually ignores rule infractions for fear of angering the administrator or stricter moderators. Usually friendly.

4. Badass: Best moderator there is. They are fair, and will usually joke around and let things go if the intention of the rule infraction was not fitting with the reason the rule was created. However, if someone is being a total idiot, especially flaming, they will proceed to argue with them for the sole purpose of getting them to make a fool of themselves, often to the point of losing their cool and posting a last "FUK U ALL!!!!!" message, at which point there is much lulz

A moderator is a person who watched an internet message board system and deletes posts that break the rules, and move threads and such. They often are voically abused by rude teenagers who like to post porn.

Online, a person assigned to keep order in forums and chatrooms.

They clean up after spam attacks, move threads to appropriate places, assign karma, etc, etc.

Has powers above those of a regular user , but below those of an administrator.

Moderators are the strong-hand of the administrators. They are like administrators, but they have limited permissions. There are two types of moderators, global moderators and local moderators. Local moderators are often focused on one or a few categories, global moderators are focused on all of the categories on the forum. Sometimes, with enough activity, all work will be paid off and you may even become an administrator.

An "athority" figure in chatrooms or forums who likes to go on powertrips and harass people who are trying to have a bit of fun. They obtain this position by being either: 1. A complete sycophant to the webmaster or 2.devoting their entire waking hours to the praticular site

A person who keeps peace and joy in all forums. While some mods can be immature and annoying, some of them are nice, mature, helpful and funny, all at the same time. But that's rare.