daebak

Daebak (대박) is a Korean exclamation that means “awesome,” “amazing” or “wow.” Literally it means something like “jackpot” or “big hit,” and it is one of the first Korean words many K-pop and K-drama fans pick up.

What does daebak mean?

Daebak is a reaction word. You say it when something is impressive, surprising or a huge success: a stunning performance, great news, an unbelievable plot twist. As a noun it means a big success, so a hit song or a sold-out show is a daebak.

It is not always positive, though. Like “wow” in English, it can react to something shockingly bad: hearing your phone bill is triple what you expected might also get a stunned “daebak.” Tone tells you which.

How to use it

• “They sold out the stadium in ten minutes? Daebak.”
• “The new teaser is daebak. I’ve watched it twenty times.”
• “Daebak, you actually passed the exam!”
• “This drama is going to be a daebak, I can feel it.”

Where you’ll hear it

Daebak is everyday casual Korean, so it pops up constantly in variety shows, dramas and idols’ livestreams. International fans then adopted it into English-language fan chat, where it is used just like “amazing” or “wow,” often with no other Korean around it.

Related terms

• aegyo: deliberately cute behavior
• all-kill: topping every major Korean music chart
• bias: your favorite member
• fanchant: the chant fans shout during a song
• sheesh: an English exclamation of amazement

See more terms like this in our K-pop slang dictionary.