[‘ A person governed by self-interest, typically manifesting as a selfish, grasping attitude arising from a fear of missing out on something. Also: such an attitude.']
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈkjɑːsuː/, U.S. /ˈkjɑˌsu/
Inflections: Plural unchanged, *kiasus*.
Forms: 19– *kiah su*, 19– *kiasu*, 19– *kian su*.
Etymology: < Chinese (Hokkien) kiasu, lit. ‘scared to lose’.
/colloq./ (orig. and chiefly in South-East Asia, esp. Singapore). depreciative.
*A.* n.
A person governed by self-interest, typically manifesting as a selfish, grasping attitude arising from a fear of missing out on something. Also: such an attitude.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong /Youth in Army/ 308 /Kian su/. It means ‘play safe’: Hokkien. Used to describe a person, commonly a government official, who is rigidly over-cautious and unprepared to take any risk, however unlikely. A distinguishing characteristic of civil servants both within and outside the defence set-up.
1982 Toh Paik Choo /Eh, Goondu!/ 27 Anytime an over-zealous person is spotted putting in an extra minute or doing a centimetre more than called for, he’s guilty of being a ‘kiah su’. Not that he hates to lose, but he’s afraid to be second best.
1992 /New Straits Times/ (Nexis) 16 May 26 At last, a cure for the kiasu.
1993 /South China Post (Hong Kong)/ 30 Jan. 5 There has been a slight tussle in the last week between the bulls, bears and the kiasu (those afraid to lose).
2006 /Eastern Daily Press (Norwich)/ (Nexis) 27 Feb., Kiasu is what causes eager commuters to shove their way onto the MRT before other passengers can alight.
*B.* adj.
Chiefly of a person: characterized by a grasping or selfish attitude arising from a fear of missing out on something.
1990 /Official Rep. Parl. Deb. Singapore/ 14 Mar. 181, I wish that the Government Ministers do not become infected with the same kiasu syndrome that they themselves have advised other people against.
1992 /New Straits Times/ (Nexis) 16 May 32 They [/sc./ parents] felt that..‘kiasu’ parents would load their children with excessive, sometimes irrelevant, supplementary materials.
2005 E. Lin See /My Kiasu Teenage Life in Singapore/ 172, I know I always think mean things of Alisa about her being kiasu and pretending not to study, but..I realize that she probably also feels insecure about her own intelligence.