otaku

[oh-tah-koo]

noun

Japanese.

plural

otaku, otakus 

1. a person with an intense enthusiasm for some subject such as computers, video games, or anime and manga, especially one who finds social interaction difficult (often used attributively).

   She's quite the military otaku and knows a lot about war history.

   The documentary delves into otaku culture.

Word History and Origins

Origin of otaku¹

First recorded in 1990–95; from Japanese: “enthusiast, geek, nerd, obsessive fan,” special use of the 2nd person pronoun, literally, “your home,” from o-, 2nd person honorific prefix ( omakase ( def. ) ) + taku “home” (from Middle Chinese; compare Mandarin zhái, Cantonese zaak )

Example Sentences

Yasushi Akimoto is one of the most prominent writers and idol-makers in Japanese pop, and was once called the "Steve Jobs of otaku" - a Japanese term for people with an obsessive interest in a specific hobby such as anime or video games.

From BBC

Those offerings feature at least a few celebrity options, which include spending a Sunday with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, “learning to throw the perfect spiral” or an anime-intensive encounter called “Become an Otaku Hottie with Megan Thee Stallion.”

From Los Angeles Times

In combining his passion for anime with his Mexican roots, Guzmán helped create the genre Nortaku, a portmanteau of the Japanese term “otaku” with “norte.”

From Los Angeles Times

When top anime streaming platform Crunchyroll was first gaining popularity as a pirated-video site in the mid-2000s, Japanese animation was considered a niche form of entertainment, appealing mainly to enthusiasts known as otaku.

From Seattle Times

Thai users liked videos of people dancing at school; Japanese users preferred funny videos about otaku, young people obsessed with anime, manga and video games; Vietnamese users especially enjoyed deft camera work.

From New York Times