ぼっち (botchi)

What it means

1. 1.

   On your own, with the implication that you would rather not be. ぼっち飯 is eating lunch alone at school or work, a small social dread in Japan.

2. 2.

   Increasingly worn lightly, even proudly — ソロ活 ('solo activities') has made eating and travelling alone respectable.

Examples with translations

• 今日も昼はぼっち飯だった。

  Ate lunch on my own again today.

• ぼっちで映画見に行くの、意外といいよ。

  Going to the cinema alone is surprisingly great.

Where it comes from

Clipped from 独りぼっち, itself from 独り法師 — a monk with no temple, wandering alone.

Other forms

Romanised as:

botchi

Spellings and variants:

ひとりぼっち, ぼっち飯