South Korea애교 (aegyo)
noun · Colloquial · EH-gyo
Performed cuteness: a softened voice, a slight pout, a wheedling tone used to charm someone into agreeing with you.
+1 more sense
South Korea
Korean Slang for People
19 Korean slang terms for people, each with its meaning, how it is pronounced and an example of it in use.
Labels for social types: the show-off, the country cousin, the city sophisticate, the freeloader. These words tell you what a culture notices about its own members.
아저씨 (ajeossi)
noun · Colloquial · a-JUH-ssi
A middle-aged man, and the usual way to address a taxi driver or a delivery man. Says plainly that the speaker considers him past youth.
Use with care
아줌마 (ajumma)
noun · Colloquial · a-JUM-ma
A middle-aged woman. Neutral in the third person; said to someone's face it can sting, because it declares her no longer young.
+1 more sense
Use with care
아싸 (assa)
noun · Informal · A-ssa
An outsider: not in the group, eating alone, not on the messaging thread. Usually self-applied, and worn with a certain defiance.
백수 (baeksu)
noun · Colloquial · BEK-soo
Someone out of work and not currently studying — typically a graduate between things. Usually self-applied and lightly rueful rather than insulting.
얼짱 (eoljjang)
noun · Informal · UL-jjang
Someone exceptionally good-looking — literally the best face in a given group. 몸짱 is the same for physique.
언니 (eonni)
noun · Colloquial · UN-nee
Older sister — said by a woman, and by extension to any older woman she is friendly with.
+1 more sense
갑질 (gapjil)
noun · Colloquial · GAP-jil
Abuse of a position of power over someone dependent on you: a client humiliating a supplier, an executive berating cabin crew, a landlord leaning on a tenant.
+1 more sense
금수저 (geumsujeo)
noun · Colloquial · GUM-soo-juh
Someone born wealthy, whose start in life was bought for them. Part of a full ranking — 금 (gold), 은 (silver), 동 (bronze), 흙 (dirt) — that Koreans use half-jokingly and half-seriously about their own prospects.
헬조선 (heljoseon)
noun · Informal · HEL-jo-sun
South Korea seen as a place of hopeless competition: brutal work culture, unaffordable housing, exams that decide a life at eighteen. Bitter rather than playful.
흙수저 (heuksujeo)
noun · Colloquial · HUK-soo-juh
Someone born with nothing to fall back on — the bottom of the spoon hierarchy, and very often a self-description.
훈남 (hunnam)
noun · Colloquial · HOON-nam
A warm, decent-looking man — the kind who makes a room feel easier rather than the spectacular kind. 훈녀 is the female equivalent.
+1 more sense
인싸 (inssa)
noun · Informal · IN-ssa
An insider: the person who knows everyone, is at every gathering and is never short of plans.
+1 more sense
정 (jeong)
noun · Colloquial · JUNG
The attachment that builds up between people, or to a place, simply through time spent together — not affection chosen but affection accumulated.
+1 more sense
꼰대 (kkondae)
noun · Informal · KKON-deh
An older person who lectures juniors about how things were done in their day and expects deference for their age alone.
+1 more sense
Use with care
눈치 (nunchi)
noun · Colloquial · NOON-chee
The ability to read a room and judge what people actually want without being told. Having it is a compliment; 눈치가 없다, lacking it, is a real criticism.
+1 more sense
오빠 (oppa)
noun · Colloquial · OH-ppa
Older brother — said by a woman. Extended to any older male she is close to: a friend, a boyfriend, a senior at university.
+2 more senses
선배 (seonbae)
noun · Colloquial · SUN-beh
Someone senior to you in an institution — school, university, company — by year of entry rather than age. Its pair is 후배 (hubae), the junior.
+1 more sense
술고래 (sulgorae)
noun · Informal · SOOL-go-reh
Someone who can drink enormous amounts — a fish, in the English idiom, though Korean scales it up to a whale.