Kondo

K5O1N1D2O1

verb

To tidy up using the methods advocated by Marie Kondo, especially keeping only those things that tokimeku (spark joy).

Less commonScrabble 10

Meanings

verbKondo (third-person singular simple present Kondos, present participle Kondoing or Kondo-ing, simple past and past participle Kondoed or Kondo'd or Kondo-ed)

present singular third person Kondos · participle present Kondoing · participle present Kondo-ing · participle past Kondoed · past Kondoed · participle past Kondo'd · past Kondo'd · participle past Kondo-ed · past Kondo-ed · alternative Marie Kondo · alternative Marie-Kondo

  1. transitiveTo tidy up using the methods advocated by Marie Kondo, especially keeping only those things that tokimeku (spark joy).

    The Psychological Benefits Of 'Kondoing' Your House

    2015 March 12, Lindsay Holmes, “The Psychological Benefits Of 'Kondoing' Your House”, in The Huffington Post
    5 more examples

    Waiting for kettle to boil … So I Kondoed my recipe books

    2015 February 26, Jennifer Maloney, Megumi Fujikawa, “Marie Kondo and the Cult of Tidying Up”, in The Wall Street Journal

    'Kondoed fridge before shopping delivery' and 'It seems mundane but I’ve Kondo’d some deodorant that I didn’t like the smell of.'

    2015 February 10, Molly Young, “Gurus: Marie Kondo Will Change Your Life: Or at least your living space.”, in New York Magazine

    'How "Kondo-ing" my closet brought joy to my life', 'I Kondo’d my refrigerator last night', 'Dawson’s closet before and after Kondo-ing', and 'The first thing I Kondo’d was my books'

    2015 March 23, Mackenzie Dawson, “How ‘Kondo-ing’ my closet brought joy to my life”, in New York Post

    Kondoing requires clothing to be folded in a particular way and certain corners of Pinterest overflow with images of diligently arranged underwear drawers.

    2016 March 11, Ally Garrett, “Decluttering isn’t always so simple for plus-size women”, in stuff

    Many people have heard of the movement that has folks asking if items in their closets “spark joy” or not. Begun by Marie “KonMari” Kondo, the “Kondoing” method of sparking joy has inspired people to go through their closets and discard or donate those items that don’t spark a sense of joy in their lives.

    2016 June 14, Paula Mooney, “Spark joy in your closet with a web-designed DIY luxury makeover”, in The Examiner
proper nounKondo (plural Kondos)

plural Kondos

  1. A surname from Japanese.

Origin

  1. Japanese近藤
  2. EnglishKondo

* (surname): From Japanese 近藤 (Kondō). * (verb): After Marie Kondo (近藤 麻理恵), Japanese organizing consultant and author.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish konmarittaa, marittaa
  • konmarittaaKondo
  • marittaaKondo
Cite this entry
APA

Kondo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kondo

MLA

“Kondo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kondo. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Kondo,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kondo.

Source: Kondo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.