otaku

American  

[oh-tah-koo] / ˌoʊˈtɑ ku /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of otaku

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 )

Explanation

If you've got an eccentric friend who enjoys some unusual hobbies, you may already know an otaku, a person who is obsessed with a very specific subject or with pop culture. Otaku, mainly used in Japanese, has an unusual origin: It comes from the historically very formal Japanese words meaning "your house." Young people with specialized interests in things like anime, video games, and manga would use this pronoun as a very polite way of addressing and recognizing each other. Outsiders noticed, and the media remarked on it, so it became a general term for these young people.

Example Sentences

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 • Jul. 17, 2023

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 • Dec. 20, 2022

Jim’s son Ron comes off as a heartless and power-hungry otaku.

From Slate • Apr. 4, 2021

In Japan, he had learned the word otaku, used to describe people with obsessive, laserlike interests.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 9, 2019

Visiting Japan in the late 90s, he was inspired by the otaku subculture and its obsessions with characters and collectibles.

From The Guardian • Sep. 19, 2019