maknae

The maknae is the youngest member of a K-pop group. In everyday Korean, it means the youngest person in any group, or the youngest child in a family.

What maknae means

Wiktionary defines maknae as the youngest member of an idol group, and notes the meaning was transferred from the original Korean sense of “lastborn child.” In fandom it carries a whole personality. The maknae is often the one the older members baby and tease, and fans enjoy watching the maknae get away with things nobody else could.

The “maknae line” is the younger half of a group, opposite the hyung line or unnie line. A maknae who seems good at everything, singing, dancing, sports, gets called a “golden maknae.”

Examples

• “The maknae is only 17 and he already writes their songs.”
• “Maknae line is causing chaos on the variety show again.”
• “I’m the maknae of my friend group, so I never pay for dinner.”

Where it came from

It’s a borrowing of Korean 막내, the youngest child. Korean culture pays close attention to age order, and Wikipedia’s article on Korean honorifics explains how speakers use different words depending on who was born first. In K-pop, where groups often have members born years apart, knowing who’s the maknae is part of knowing the group.

It’s also spelled mangnae, which is closer to how it’s pronounced.

Related terms

• Hyung: older brother, and the older boy-group members.
• Unnie: older sister, and the older girl-group members.
• Dongsaeng: a younger sibling or friend.
• Bias: your favorite member.

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