guai lan

Singapore[ˈk˭waɪ˦˨ lɑn˨]US/(ˈ)ɡwaɪ ˈlɑn/US/ˈkwaɪ-/

adjective

Hard to please or satisfy; irritating, loathsome.

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Meanings

adjectiveguai lan (comparative more guai lan, superlative most guai lan)

comparative more guai lan · superlative most guai lan · alternative kwai lan

  1. SinglishcolloquialinformalHard to please or satisfy; irritating, loathsome.

    you so guai lan for wat

    2003 July 21, Z-Bone, “Triple X Carsticker”, in Google Groups
    4 more examples

    I'd say it's the "kwai lan" (gangster) look.

    1999 May 23, “The Loanshark Look”, in The New Paper, Singapore

    damn guai lan..cannot take it..

    2005 August 3, Joleen Lim, “guai lan”, in Blogspot, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2017

    Tribute to my “guai lan” friend!

    2013 March 20, JeevS GOne, “Oppa Guai Lan Style (Oppa Gangnam Style Parady)”, in YouTube

    After all these years, the bugger still had the same kwai lan air he had even when he was fifteen.

    2013 September 3, The Marijuana Chronicles, Singapore

Origin

Derived from Hokkien 怪𡳞 (koài-lān, literally “strange dick”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: guai lan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.