Meanings
adjectivelau kui (comparative more lau kui, superlative most lau kui)
comparative more lau kui · superlative most lau kui
- SingaporecolloquialEmbarrassing, shameful
You think you are going for a vacation izzit? No wonder our athletes thought like this and we lost miserably. So lau kui.
2004, Bukit Ho Sweerean, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet)
Origin
- Hokkien落氣 /落气“to lose face”
- Englishlau kui
Borrowed from Hokkien 落氣 /落气 (làu-khùi, “to lose face”).
More words from Hokkien
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
lau kui. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lau%20kui
MLA
“lau kui.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lau%20kui. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lau kui,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lau%20kui.
Source: lau kui on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.