kiasu

[ kee-ah-soo, kee-uh-soo ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

self-serving, competitive, or greedy:
parents who are kiasu about their children’s education.

noun

Also ki·asu·ism. a kiasu mindset.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of kiasu¹

First recorded in 1975–80; from dialectal Chinese (Southern Min, Fujian): literally, “fear of losing or of losing out”; introduced into standard English by speakers of Singaporean English

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KIAS kiaugh

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