kawaii

Where does the word "kawaii" come from? It comes from Japanese kawayushi, and was adopted directly into English (1990s).

Kawaii’s story begins in Japanese: kawayushi meant “pitiable, later endearing.” Originally meant pitiable or embarrassing, later shifting to mean endearing and lovable. It reached English by 1990s as kawaii. Hello Kitty (1974) and 1970s schoolgirl handwriting helped create the 'kawaii' culture. Today, kawaii means cute or endearing, especially in the Japanese aesthetic sense.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · medieval kawayushi "pitiable, later endearing", originally meant pitiable or embarrassing, later shifting to mean endearing and lovable.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1990s kawaii "cute, endearing, especially in Japanese style", Hello Kitty (1974) and 1970s schoolgirl handwriting helped create the 'kawaii' culture.