dongsaeng

Dongsaeng is Korean for a younger sibling, and more broadly for any younger friend or acquaintance. It’s the word for “the younger one” in a relationship, whether you’re a man or a woman.

What dongsaeng means

Wikipedia’s article on Korean honorifics lists dongsaeng (동생) as the word for a younger sibling, alongside hyeong and oppa for older brothers and nuna and eonni for older sisters. Like those words, it isn’t limited to family. Your dongsaeng can be a younger coworker, teammate or friend you look out for.

Unlike the older-sibling words, dongsaeng doesn’t change with the speaker’s gender. To be specific, Korean adds a word: namdongsaeng for a younger brother and yeodongsaeng for a younger sister.

You usually don’t call someone “dongsaeng” to their face the way you’d say “oppa!” It’s more often used to describe the relationship: “she’s my dongsaeng.”

Examples

• “He’s like my dongsaeng, I’ve known him since he was in middle school.”
• “The older members treat her like their dongsaeng.”
• “My dongsaeng borrowed my hoodie and never gave it back.”

Where it came from

It’s a borrowing of Korean 동생. English-speaking fans mostly know it from K-dramas and K-pop variety shows, where who’s older and who’s younger shapes how everyone talks to each other.

Related terms

• Maknae: the youngest member of a group.
• Hyung: older brother, said by a man.
• Noona: older sister, said by a man.
• Unnie: older sister, said by a woman.

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