Top 17 Beautiful and Cutest Korean Words of All Time.
No matter, if you are a Hallyu addict or a polyglot who took up the Korean language as a new interest. Here’s a list of the top 17 must-know cutest Korean words that will serve your winter just right.
Annyeonghaseyo thekoreanhanami readers!
This year cold hit us hard realizing that within the next couple of months it will be a brand new year. STRESSED OUT IN CAPS!!!!!!!
I mean seriously, a whole year passed within a blink. Reflecting back on my year only brings back snatches of moments in front of my eyes. I don’t even remember how I started this year and how it went all these past months and that perhaps is making me feel blue.
To beat this frozen blue and make me and you all feel productive. We decided to share some beautiful and cutest Korean words to fill your upcoming Christmas with ‘Aegyo’.
Yeoubi (여우비)
Yeoubi (여우비) refers to the sun shining through the rain; a sun shower. This Korean word is made up of two words. ‘여우’ Yeou means fox and ‘비’ Bi means rain, togetherly known as ‘fox rain’. Yeoubi originated from a Korean folktale about a bittersweet love.
In the folktale, A Cloud falls in love with a fox but the fox gets married to a tiger. The marriage of the fox takes place on a bright sunny day, seeing which the cloud couldn’t help but cry for his unrequited love. The cloud’s teardrops transformed into rain in the human world and when the cloud realized that it was still a sunny day, it stopped and wished the fox a bright future and joy even if it were not with him.
The story then narrated for years in the Korean culture and in the new age, it is described as a strong nostalgia along with sorrow, the bittersweet emotion of letting go of someone or something dearly, and the feelings that we feel while wishing luck and happiness for that person future endeavors.
Han (한)
Han (한) refers to the grief, resentment, suffering, and personal regret and struggle that the Koreans felt during the odd thousand years of oppression by neighboring countries. In modern Korea, Han (한) is characterized as a complex negative feeling triggered by the loss of self-identity or traumatized experiences. However, this word is highly subjective and everybody seems to have their own definition to portray.
Do-dam-do-dam (도담 도담)
Do-dam-do-dam (도담 도담) is used to describe a baby or a child who grows up healthy without a hitch. This term is often used by pregnant women or parents who are expecting. Korean parents name their belly baby ‘do dam (도담)’ to express their content feelings about the baby growing healthily inside the stomach.
Do-Ran-Do-Ran (도란 도란)
Do-Ran-Do-Ran (도란 도란) is an onomatopoeia that refers to a group of several people chit-chatting warmly with each other like a friend group in a cafeteria.
Hyo (효)
Hyo (효) was born from one of the Confucian beliefs Filial Piety (a religion in South Korea). Hyo is a word that refers to children being devoted to their elders and their parents. It believed in the idea that children should take extreme care of their own parents along with behaving in the right way to elders outside of the house too.
This builds good mannerisms in growing children and the family often gets praised for their upbringing by outsiders. Hyo also means the sense of responsibility towards parents and taking care of their needs and wants even if sometimes it involves significant sacrifices in children’s life.
A devoted son can be called Hyoja (효자) and a dedicated daughter can be termed Hyonyeo (효녀).
Mal-lang-mal-lang (말랑 말랑)
Mal-lang-mal-lang (말랑 말랑) is a Korean word that can be used to describe things that are soft, fluffy, and squishy. A food that can be best described with this word is Marshmallow (마시 멜로).
Dwing-gul-dwing-gul (뒹굴 뒹굴)
Dwing-gul-dwing-gul (뒹굴 뒹굴) is a word that can be used to depict a person lying down lazily or any object rolling around casually. Koreans often use this word to describe a person just spending their time idly without any considerable movement.
Aaji (아지)
Aaji is a Korean suffix word that represents anything small and young like a baby. Koreans use this word often to describe animal babies like a baby horse mang aji (망아지). Aaji is always used with a root word and never stands alone.
Jam / Chamm (잠)
Chamm 잠 means sleep in Korean. We often heard our BTS boys and other renowned Korean celebrities wishing their fans a good night saying 잘 자 / 잘 자요. These words can be connected with 잠 easily.
One of the unique Korean words related to 잠 is Kkoch chamm 꽃 잠. It is a Korean word that means flower sleep. 꽃 meaning flower; 잠 meaning sleep. This word is used for the first night of the newlyweds.
Po-long-geo-li-da (포롱 거리다)
Po-long-geo-li-da (포롱 거리다) is a word used by the Koreans to express a small bird flying away.
Ttung-ttung-hada (뚱 뚱 하다)
‘Ttung-ttung-hada (뚱뚱 하다)’ is a Korean word that Korean people use to describe a person who is healthy or fat.
It is made with the combination of two words 뚱 ttung meaning fat and 하다 hada is a verb conjugation that is changed as per reference perspective.
You can find this word used affectionately by none other than our cutest celebrity Nam Joo Hyuk in the ‘Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo’ series. He calls our adorable female lead Lee Sung Kyung with the nickname 뚱 throughout the series.
Maeum ( 마음)
The literal meaning of this word stands for ‘heart’. Korean people often use this word as an expression of feelings and emotions associated with the heart. This word signifies the depth of their feeling towards something or someone.
Haetsal (햇살)
The word Haetsal has been originated from a combination of 해 (hae) meaning “sun” and 살 (sal) meaning “arrow”. The literal meaning of the word stands for the warmth and comfort that sunlight brings to the world and is commonly used for naming newborn baby girls.
Narae (나래)
Narae also pronounced as ‘Nalae’ stands for ‘Wings’. It is interpreted as ‘wings of mine’ or ‘my wings’ which symbolize growth, freedom, or the potentiality to rise to new heights efficiently. It is another popular name given to Korean girls just like Haetsal.
Yeong Won (영원)
The word ‘Yeongwon'(영원) means ‘Eternity’. It is used by Koreans to express feelings associated with concepts of forever, everlasting beauty, timelessness, and unbound love.
Aegyo (애교)
Korean people are shippers of beauty and cuteness and when someone softly captures their heart (ma-eum) with their charming, childlike mannerisms, they often say that the person has a lot of ‘Aegyo’. The literal translation of this word will be adorable and it can also be used to describe someone’s playful gestures, cute facial expressions, or sweet and childlike speaking tone. BTS V ‘taetae’ gestures are an excellent example of this word.
Bonus Word :
Sarang 사랑
Sarang (사랑) is a Korean word that roots in love whereas Saranghaeyo (사랑해요) is another Korean word that translates to ‘I Love You.’ These words are self-explanatory and I hope you get to exchange these words someday with someone worth for you.
That’s all for beating any upcoming weekend blue and with that being said, Wishing you all a Christmas and New Year filled with creativity and clarity.
P.S.: Congrats you are already 17 steps ahead of your Korean Dream. Why not use these words next time you have to define these kinds of feelings? Do share your favorite Korean words in the comments down below. The writers of the Korean hanami are logophiles and love to munch on words all the time.
Also Read: The Korean Seasons | A Different Perspective on the Four Seasons
Recommended Drama for the Weekend: ‘Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo’
Recommended Song for the Weekend: ‘Beautiful People’ by Ed Sheeran ft. Khalid
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