Kpop Vocabulary (2024)

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In Kpop there is a language that newbies don't understand when they first join, so here's a little guide to help you.

Bias: You're favorite member in a band

All-Kill: An all-kill is when a group’s song or album simultaneously takes the top spot of all eight Korean music charts.

Comeback: A K-pop group coming back with new music. It’s the equivalent of saying a group is releasing a new album, but instead K-pop fans say that a group is having a comeback.

Daesang: The Daesang award is one of the highest achievements a group or artist can achieve. Winning a Daesang focuses on the records released by artists that year and how many copies they sold, both physically and digitally. It is awarded at the two prominent Korean music award shows, the Golden Disk Awards and the Seoul Music Awards.

Eye smiles: Idols with eye smiles often look happiest, and fans adore when they sport them. An eye smile happens when an idol’s eyes turn into tiny crescents when they laugh or express joy, looking like smiles themselves.

Fan Club: Behind every K-pop group is a dedicated fan club, big or small, and they play a vital role in a group’s success. When a group gets big enough, its fans earn an official fan club name and color

Netizens: A simple definition of the term would be a “citizen of the net.” In K-pop there’s netizens and there’s K-netizens, the former being any international fan online and the latter being Korean fans online.

OST: Also known as “Original Soundtrack,” an OST refers to songs written specifically for a Korean drama.

Ultimate: Much like you have a bias, you may also have an ultimate bias. The ultimate bias is the king or queen of your bias list.

V app: Relatively new to K-pop is the V app, which is a platform for idols to livestream to their fans, available on iTunes and Google Play.

X-dressing: For some reason, male idol groups prepare cross-dressing stages all the time. Stars pick a popular girl group song, get custom-made outfits, and learn the choreography. Sometimes they even sing the high-pitched songs themselves, and the manlier the idol, the funnier it is. It’s actually not uncommon at all, and groups usually do this for special concerts or music programs as a treat for fans.

Aegyo: "Aegyo" means super cuteness, like when someone does a very adorable act ranging from giving simple puppy eyes to clinging to another's arm and whining in a lovable fashion.

Sasaeng: This word is usually followed by fan as in "sasaeng fan," or super obsessed fans who go a little bit over the top in expressing their love for their favorite idols.

Daebak: This pretty much means, "Wow." Like, "Wow! He donated so much money!" can be changed to, "He donated so much money! Daebak..." Just like the word "Wow," it can be used sarcastically, too.

Oppa/Unnie/Hyung/Noona: So you may see these words coming after names sometimes or you may just hear your idols calling other people these words. Simple! A girl calls an older man "oppa" and an older woman "unnie." A guy calls an older man "hyung" and older woman "noona."

Sunbae/Hoobae: This is similar to the previous one. Basically "sunbae" is a senior, so you would use this for people who are in higher grades than you at school or people who have more experience than you at work. "Hoobae" is the opposite, meant for juniors. Sunbae-hoobae relationship, therefore, is the same as senior-junior relationship.

Omo: This is short for "omona" and means "oh, my."