Meanings
uke1
uke2
plural ukes
- governmentThe training partner against whom tori performs a move.
- JapaneseslangfictionA passive or submissive male fictional character in a same-sex relationship; a bottom.
You'd rather have Sebas be an uke?
2010, Pentabu, My Girlfriend’s a Geek, volume 1, Yen Press, published 2012, →ISBN2 more examples
Yaoi uke in fanfics often bear the brunt of stereotypical "negative female characteristics" such as passivity, helplessness, and masochism.
2008, Tan Bee Kee, “Rewriting Gender and Sexuality in English-language Yaoi Fanfiction”, in Antonia Levi, Mark McHarry, Dru Pagliassotti, editors, Boys' Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 142Shizuku is so, so, so cute! I love him as an uke so much I can't stand it!
2010, Kyoka Wakatsuki, “Afterword”, in The Selfish Demon King, Digital Manga Publishing, →ISBN, page 137Antonyms: seme
Uke3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA passive or submissive male fictional character in a same-sex relationship; a bottom.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
uke · noun
- Japanese受け
- Englishuke
From Japanese 受け (uke), the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 受(う)ける (ukeru, “to receive, to get”).
More words from Japanese
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with uke
Anagrams
Cite this entry
uke. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uke
“uke.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uke. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “uke,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/uke.
Source: uke on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.