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kiasu

American  
[kee-ah-soo, kee-uh-soo] / kiˈɑ su, ˈki əˌsu /

adjective

  1. self-serving, competitive, or greedy.

    parents who are kiasu about their children’s education.

noun

  1. Also kiasuism a self-serving, competitive, or greedy mindset.

Etymology

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.