Kiasi

//ˌkjɑːˈsiː// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A kiasi person. Singapore, colloquial, derogatory, mildly

    "Apart from the kiasis and kiasus, there are also Singaporeans at the other end of the scale – the healthcare workers who put their lives at risk."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Unwilling to take a risk for fear that something bad or unfavorable will happen; cowardly, overly cautious and risk-averse. Singapore, colloquial, derogatory, mildly

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

Synonyms

All synonyms
bonelesschickenchicken-heartedcowardlycravendastardly

Example

More examples

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 驚死／惊死 (kiaⁿ-sí, “afraid to die”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.