Etymology

sunbae

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Today it means: An upperclassman or senior, in the context of Korea. Full definition →

Korean 선배(先輩)
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The story

  1. Korean · borrowed from선배(先輩)“senior”
  2. English todaysunbae

Borrowed from Korean 선배(先輩) (seonbae, “senior”). Doublet of senpai.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.