Etymology

kengster

K5E1N1G2S1T1E1R1

Today it means: Someone who avoids work, military duties or other responsibilities by constantly reporting sick; a malingerer. Full definition →

Teochew 臭
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The story

  1. Teochew · borrowed from臭“dirty, ill-reputed”
  2. English todaykengster

keng + -ster, the first element is a clipping of chao keng, from Teochew 臭 (cao³, “dirty, ill-reputed”) + 經 /经 (gêng¹, “to evade; to pass the buck”).

Words from the same roots

Teochew臭 all →

kengchao keng

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.