Meanings
yaya1
plural yayas
- Hong KongPhilippinesA nanny; female caregiver; nursemaid
“Can you not make this carriage move faster? You're moving slower than when my yaya tried to ride a snail to the next village.”
2020 June 3, William Meny, “Witches” (4:25 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 2, episode 9, spoken by Nadja (Natasia Demetriou)
yaya2
- SinglishinvariableTo show off or behave in an egocentric or self-important manner.
Synonyms: flex, preen, swagger, aura farm, boulevardier, cut a wide swath, cut it fat, cut round
comparative more yaya · superlative most yaya
- SinglishArrogant, stuck-up.
Yaya3
- A female given name.
- A male given name.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo show off or behave in an egocentric or self-important manner.
Origin
yaya · noun
- Philippine Spanishyaya
- Tagalogyaya
- Englishyaya
From Tagalog yaya, from Philippine Spanish yaya.
More words from Tagalog, Philippine Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Yaya · proper noun
- Arabicيَحْيَى
- EnglishYaya
The male name is ultimately from Arabic يَحْيَى (yaḥyā); likely through a West African language.
More words from Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
yaya. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yaya
“yaya.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yaya. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yaya,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yaya.
Source: yaya on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.