Korean slang profile
도둑공부
dodukgongbu
Studying without others knowing
Studying secretly without telling people around oneself.
- Expanded form
- 도둑 + 공부secretive action + study
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- 2007
- Documented trend period
- Not verified
This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.
01Examples, with English translations
- Example by Julimmal
새로운 자격증을 준비하며 퇴근 후 도둑공부를 했다.
I did 도둑공부 after work while preparing for a new qualification.
02Documented history
- 2007The National Institute of Korean Language’s weekly new-word survey material introduced the spelling and meaning of “도둑공부”.[1]
03Origin & word formation
It figuratively applies the sense of doing something without others knowing to studying. This explanation was checked in the National Institute of Korean Language’s 2007 weekly new-word survey material. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationMedium
The explanation and components in the body of the weekly material were directly compared. The original older articles re-quoted there and first use were not separately verified, and the date was recorded only to the precision of the verified source’s publication year.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 신어 조사 결과 (2007년 11월 4주) (국립국어원·국회도서관 보존본)Published 2007Original source checked Nov 14, 2026