singkek

English

Noun

singkek

1. (slang, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore) A laborer who has recently arrived from China.

   Coordinate term: totok

Indonesian

Etymology

From Hokkien 新客 (sin-kheh, literally “new guest”), a term used to refer to relatively new Chinese arrivals in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia (as opposed to Peranakan) around the 1800s to 1900s, as compound of 新 (sin, “new; recently”) +‎ 客 (kheh, “guest”). Compare Malay sengkek, Tagalog singki.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈsiŋkek/ [ˈsiŋ.kek̚]
• Rhymes: -iŋkek
• Syllabification: sing‧kek

Noun

singkék

1. (ethnic slur, offensive) Chinese pure blood (as opposed to a Peranakan)

   Synonym: totok

2. (ethnic slur, offensive) Chinaman, Chink (person of Chinese descent)

Usage notes

• Considered a stronger ethnic slur than Cina.

Alternative forms

• sengkek, singkeh

Hypernyms

• Tionghoa

Adjective

singkék

1. (colloquial) stingy

   dasar singkek

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Further reading

• “singkek” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Alternative forms

• sengkek
• singke
• singkeh

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 新客 (sin-kheeh / sin-kheh, “newcomer”, literally “new guest”), a term used to refer to relatively new Chinese arrivals in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (as opposed to Peranakan) around the 1800s to 1900s, as compound of 新 (sin, “new; recently”) +‎ 客 (kheh, “guest”). Compare Indonesian singkek, Tagalog singki.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsiŋkek/ [ˈsiŋ.keʔ]
• Hyphenation: sing‧kek

Noun

singkek

1. Alternative form of sengkek

Hypernyms

• Cina
• Tionghoa

Further reading

• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) A Malay-English dictionary (Romanised)‎^[1], volume 2, Mytilene (Greece): Salavopoulos and Kinderlis Art - Printers, pages 477-478

Minangkabau

Etymology

Cognate with Malay singkat (“short; brief; concise”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪŋ.kɛʔ/
• Hyphenation: sing‧kek

Adjective

singkek

1. concise
2. short