kiasu
[ kee-ah-soo, kee-uh-soo ]
/ kiˈɑ su, ˈki əˌsu /
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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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Origin of kiasu
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
Words nearby kiasu
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021