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Glite Dictionary
unnie

unnie

9.9
In Korean, a word a younger woman uses to call an older sister or older woman friend
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : unnie
  • Many younger girls in Korea affectionately call their older friends unnie to express closeness.

Examples

  • If you visit Korea, you might hear younger girls referring to their elder sisters as unnie.

  • My unnie is coming to visit this weekend.

  • In the K-pop group, she always calls her bandmate unnie out of respect.

  • My Korean friend told me to use unnie when talking to older girls.

  • I asked my unnie for advice on my project.

  • You can show respect by calling your older sister unnie when you speak to her.

  • She refers to her close female friend as unnie because they share a bond like sisters.

Synonyms

eonni
vsunnie
9.9

In Korean, a younger woman who calls an older woman she sees as a sister

has the same meaning but is a different romanization or spelling

Surface Forms

unnie singular
unnies plural

Etymology

Unnie comes from the Korean word 언니, which means 'older sister'. Girls use unnie to call an older sister or a close older female friend, so it works like the English word sister but with more respect and warmth.