Kiasu

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Look up kiasu in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Kiasu (simplified Chinese: 惊输; traditional Chinese: 驚輸; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kiaⁿ-su) is a Hokkien word that denotes a "grasping, selfish attitude" that arises from fear of missing out.^[1]

Etymology and usage[]

Kiasu comes from the vernacular Chinese phrase Chinese: 怕輸, meaning 'fear of losing’. It is commonly used in Singapore, where a survey in 2015 ranked being kiasu as one of the top 10 Singaporean cultural values,^[2] and the word has been introduced into the English language by speakers of colloquial Singaporean English. It is often used to refer to anxious, selfish attitude arising from a fear of "missing out" or "losing out".^[3]

Kiasu is similar in etymology to kiasi (literally, fear of death); both terms are used to describe similar attitudes. Kiasu or kiasuism means taking extreme measures to achieve success, whereas kiasi or kiasiism means to taking extreme, risk-avoidant measures.

See also[]

• Abundance Mentality (antonym)
• Fear of missing out

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Leo, David (1995). Kiasu, Kiasi: You Think What?. ISBN 981-204-626-7.
• (2005). My Kiasu Teenage Life in Singapore. ISBN 981-05-3016-1.
• Kim Ebensgaard Jensen (21 September 2020). "Kiasu". Ny Forskning i Grammatik (in Danish) (27). doi:10.7146/NFG.V0I27.122129. ISSN 2446-1709. Wikidata Q107360995.

External links[]

Look up kiasu in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Definition of kiasu in the Oxford Dictionary
• Definition of kiasu in The Coxford Singlish Dictionary at Talkingcock.com
• See: kiasu from A Dictionary of Singlish and Singaporean English