geh kiang

Singapore[k˭e˨˦ kʰjaŋ˨˩]

adjective

Overconfident and pretending to be clever.

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Meanings

adjectivegeh kiang (comparative more geh kiang, superlative most geh kiang)

comparative more geh kiang · superlative most geh kiang · alternative keh kiang · alternative kay kiang

  1. SingaporeSinglishOverconfident and pretending to be clever.

    [O]ne never knows how such unsolicited advice might be taken. The owner might just ask me not to be too ‘keh khiang’ (clever by half) and to mind my own business, just as he was so successfully minding his.

    2005 December 10, Philip Lee, The New Paper, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited
verbgeh kiang (indeclinable)

alternative keh kiang · alternative kay kiang

  1. SingaporeSinglishindeclinableTo act overly clever and end up making reckless or unwise decisions without careful consideration.

    […] Who ask you? Geh kiang lah. Think you so smart, […]

    2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii

Origin

From Singaporean Hokkien 假勥 (ké-khiàng, literally “fake cleverness”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

geh kiang. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/geh%20kiang

MLA

“geh kiang.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/geh%20kiang. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “geh kiang,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/geh%20kiang.

Source: geh kiang on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.