kiasi

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Min Nan 驚死／惊死 (kiaⁿ-sí, “afraid to die”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɪɑ̃ˈsîː/
• Hyphenation: kia‧si

Adjective

kiasi (comparative more kiasi, superlative most kiasi)

1. (Singapore, colloquial, mildly derogatory) Unwilling to take a chance for fear that something bad or unfavourable will happen; cowardly.

   Why are you so kiasi? You won't die from getting a small cut on the finger.

   If everyone dares to bungee jump, why can't you do the same? Are you kiasi or what?

   • 1991 April 7, Sandi Tan, “Face-to-face with the kiasu customer”, in The Straits Times, page 8:

     When you are anxious to make the right travel arrangements, you sometimes cannot help but be inquisitive. For those in the travel business, these whines should be a common affair. But when does being "inquisitive" translate into "irritating", or "anxious" into "kiasi" […]

   • 1994 September 14, “Promotion blown out of all proportion”, in The Straits Times, page 22:

     Do not be alarmed if you have received this yellow cylinder which looks like a stick of dynamite and even had the word "explosive" on it. Last week, one "kiasi" fellow was so alarmed that he called the police […]

   • 2000, Leong Liew Geok, “Forever Singlish”, in Women without Men, Singapore: Times Books International, →ISBN, page 130:

     No lubang, so teruk. Kiasu cannot lose, / Kiasi cannot die; machiam machiam words / We also try. Proper English? So lecheh, / So correct, so actsy for what? […]

   • 2001 February 20, Carolyn Chew, “A different take on the Singaporean syndrome”, in Today, page 6:

     Too often you hear about Singaporeans with the "K syndrome", meaning kiasu (afraid of losing out), kiasi (afraid of dying), kiabor (afraid of wife).

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:cowardly.

Noun

kiasi (plural kiasi or kiasis)

1. (Singapore, colloquial, mildly derogatory) A kiasi person.

See also

• kiasu

Anagrams

• Saiki, kiais

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Swahili

Noun

kiasi (ki-vi class, plural viasi)

1. some, a modicum
2. the price of something
3. a bullet

Adjective

kiasi (invariable)

1. moderately-sized, average