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kiasu
[ kee-ah-soo, kee-uh-soo ]
adjective
- self-serving, competitive, or greedy:
parents who are kiasu about their children’s education.
noun
- Also ki·a·su·ism []. a self-serving, competitive, or greedy mindset.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of kiasu1
First recorded in 1975–80; from dialectal Chinese (Southern Min, Fujian): literally, “fear of losing or of losing out”; introduced into standard English by speakers of Singaporean English
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