Korean slang profile

졸백

jolbaek

Becoming unemployed immediately after graduation, or a graduate in that situation.

Expanded form: 졸업 + 백수졸업 (graduation) + 백수 (unemployed person)
Other spellings: —
Earliest source found: Nov 9, 2010
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
졸백이라는 신조어를 통해 졸업생의 취업난을 짚었어.
We discussed graduates’ difficulty finding jobs through the new term 졸백.

02Documented history

November 9, 2010The National Institute of Korean Language’s “2010년 신어 자료집” included the expression and its definition in the new-word section.[1]

03Origin & word formation

The National Institute of Korean Language’s “2010년 신어 자료집” directly defines the expression in its new-word section. It gives its components as “졸업 + 백수”. Who first used it and when have not been verified.

Evidence for the origin explanationMedium

The entry and definition in one collection were directly checked. The older articles cited in the collection were not separately checked, so their dates were not used as the earliest verified date.

04Sources

Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.

2010년 신어 자료집 — PDF 54쪽 (국립국어원)Published Nov 9, 2010Original source checked Nov 14, 2026