Ah Lian

noun

A young Chinese woman in Singapore associated with a stereotype of having little education or sophistication and operating within secret societies and street gangs.

OriginHokkien 阿蓮 /阿莲 →
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Meanings

nounAh Lian (plural Ah Lians)

plural Ah Lians

  1. MalaysiaSingaporederogatoryethnicslurA young Chinese woman in Singapore associated with a stereotype of having little education or sophistication and operating within secret societies and street gangs.

    Among the ah bengs and ah lians, the mats and the minahs, the young expats and the backpackers, he stood out like a dozen guys on a male-only dance floor singing Dancing Queen (I'll never forgive Blur for ruining my 21st birthday).

    2012 April 15, Neil Humphreys, “From Cool Dude to Sad Old Man”, in The New Paper, page 34

Origin

  1. Hokkien阿蓮 /阿莲
  2. EnglishAh Lian

Borrowed from Hokkien 阿蓮 /阿莲 (a-liân).

More words from Hokkien

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Ah Lian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ah%20Lian

MLA

“Ah Lian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ah%20Lian. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ah Lian,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ah%20Lian.

Source: Ah Lian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.