kiasu

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

adjective

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

noun

Also ki·a·su·ism. a kiasu mind-set.

Origin of kiasu

< Chinese: literally, ‘fear of losing or of losing out’

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018