otaku

[ oh-tah-koo ]

noun

, Japanese.

, plural o·ta·ku, o·ta·kus.

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of otaku¹

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 )

Example Sentences

In combining his passion for anime with his Mexican roots, Guzmán helped create the genre Nortaku, a portmanteau of the Japanese term “otaku” with “norte.”

From Los Angeles Times

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

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

Our favorite otaku assassin returns!

From The Verge

The game’s creators, at the Shanghai-based company miHoYo, proudly refer to themselves as “otaku,” a Japanese term often used to describe people whose lives are consumed by aspects of Japan’s pop culture, like manga and anime.

From New York Times