yaoi

yao·i
Y4A1O1I1
/ˈjaʊ̯.i//ˈjɑ.ɔɪ̯/

noun

A narrative or visual work featuring a romantic or sexual relationship between two or more men.

Similar
BLshounen ai
OriginJapanese 矢追 →
Less commonScrabble 7
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Meanings

yaoi1

nounyaoi (countable and uncountable, plural yaoi or yaois)

plural yaois

  1. JapanesecountableespeciallyuncountablefictionA narrative or visual work featuring a romantic or sexual relationship between two or more men.
  2. JapanesecountableuncountablelifestyleA form of hentai involving two or more men in a gay relationship.

    I have a ton of gay porn, actually. He knows. I'm a major yaoi freak. But only if it's manga and anime. Because I'm just a pervert like that.

    2005 October 28, interview with Fall Out Boy during the Nintendo Fusion Tour, spoken by Jessica Chobot, IGN

Yaoi2

proper noun
  1. A surname from Japanese.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
BLshounen ai
Narrower
bara

Origin

yaoi · noun

Borrowed from Japanese やおい (yaoi), an acronym of 山(やま)無(な)し (yama nashi, “no climax”), 落(お)ち無(な)し (ochi nashi, “no point”), and 意味(いみ)無(な)し (imi nashi, “no meaning”), originally mocking those who criticised early yaoi works for being too focused on sex scenes instead of storylines.

Full word history & related roots →

Yaoi · proper noun

  1. Japanese矢追
  2. EnglishYaoi

From Japanese 矢追 (Yaoi).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic يَاوِي
  • يَاوِي (yāwī)narrative involving men in a gay relationship
Bengali ইয়াওই
  • ইয়াওই (iẏaōi)narrative involving men in a gay relationship
Chinese Mandarin 耽美
  • 耽美 (dānměi)narrative involving men in a gay relationship
Dutch yaoi
  • yaoinarrative involving men in a gay relationship
Esperanto jaŭojo
  • jaŭojonarrative involving men in a gay relationship
French yaoi
  • yaoinarrative involving men in a gay relationship
German Yaoi
  • Yaoinarrative involving men in a gay relationship
Hebrew יאוי
  • יאויnarrative involving men in a gay relationship
Hindi याओइ
  • याओइ (yāoi)narrative involving men in a gay relationship
Italian yaoi
  • yaoinarrative involving men in a gay relationship
Japanese やおい
  • やおい (yaoi)narrative involving men in a gay relationship
Korean 야오이
  • 야오이 (yaoi)narrative involving men in a gay relationship
Portuguese yaoi
  • yaoinarrative involving men in a gay relationship
Russian яо́й
  • яо́й (jaój)narrative involving men in a gay relationship
Spanish yaoi
  • yaoinarrative involving men in a gay relationship
Turkish yaoi
  • yaoinarrative involving men in a gay relationship
Ukrainian яо́й
  • яо́й (jaój)narrative involving men in a gay relationship

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with yaoi

Howieyowieowie
All rhymes →

Anagrams

aiyo
Cite this entry
APA

yaoi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yaoi

MLA

“yaoi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yaoi. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yaoi,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yaoi.

Source: yaoi on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.