English
kiasu
Kiasu comes from Hokkien 驚輸／惊输 ‘afraid to lose out’.
- Hokkienmodern驚輸／惊输kiaⁿ-su‘afraid to lose out’
- Englishearliest quotation 1985kiasu
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Hokkienmodern驚輸／惊输kiaⁿ-su‘afraid to lose out’
- Englishearliest quotation 1985kiasu
Earliest quotation: 1985, Irene Hoe, A parent's helping hand or a nudge into the rat race?: “No wonder the parents acted that way, she said.…”
Every English word from Hokkien 驚輸／惊输
Today it means
adj Afraid to lose out, particularly because one is overly competitive.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Hokkien 驚輸／惊输 / kiasu