Meanings
- PhilippinesuncountableLeftover food scavenged from garbage.
In the Philippines, many eat pagpag, a dish made of thrown-out fast food. One Filipino considers poverty in this region and the centrality of pagpag: […]
2026, Hanna Samir Kassab, Post-Colonial Realism: Cultural Conflicts, Cuisine, and the Changing International System, London: Routledge, →ISBN, unnumbered page2 more examples
They might have new glass skyscrapers in their capital, but they also have too many people living on pagpag. […] 'Pagpag is when the Maharlikans scavenge trash dumps for food and items they might be able to resell. […]
2024, Eileen R. Tabios, The Balikbayan Artist, Penguin Books, →ISBN, unnumbered pageA video shot in the Philippines has gone viral as it gives an unsettling glimpse into food insecurity. Posted by @arabzclipz on Instagram, the clip, which has already drawn 1.8 million views, shows two content creators documenting how pagpag is made: discarded fast food, collected from trash bins, cleaned, and recooked into a meal.
2025 June 14, Trends Desk, “‘One man’s trash’: Viral video shows discarded fast food cooked and eaten in Philippines”, in The Indian Express, Indian Express Limited, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Jul 2025
Origin
- Tagalogpagpag
- Englishpagpag
Borrowed from Tagalog pagpag.
More words from Tagalog
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
pagpag. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pagpag
“pagpag.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pagpag. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pagpag,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pagpag.
Source: pagpag on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.