yobai

Y4O1B3A1I1

noun

An ancient Japanese custom in which a young unmarried man would go out at night and silently enter the house of a young unmarried woman for sexual intercourse, sometimes as a prelude to marriage.

Similar
night crawling
OriginJapanese 夜這い →
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Meanings

nounyobai (uncountable)
  1. historicaluncountableAn ancient Japanese custom in which a young unmarried man would go out at night and silently enter the house of a young unmarried woman for sexual intercourse, sometimes as a prelude to marriage.

    Synonyms: night crawling

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn ancient Japanese custom in which a young unmarried man would go out at night and silently enter the house of a young unmarried woman for sexual intercourse, sometimes as a prelude to marriage.

Similar
night crawling
Also see
night crawling

Origin

  1. Japanese夜這い
  2. Englishyobai

From Japanese 夜這い (literally “night crawling”).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

iyoba
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“yobai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yobai. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yobai,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yobai.

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