Korean slang profile
노바이족
nobaijok
People avoiding new-product purchases
Consumers who use secondhand goods, repairs, or rentals rather than buy new products.
- Expanded form
- no buy + 족no buy + 족 (group)
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- 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
새 가방을 사기보다 고쳐 쓰는 노바이족 생활을 시작했다.
I began a 노바이족 lifestyle, repairing my bag instead of buying a new one.
02Documented history
- 2010The National Institute of Korean Language’s 2009 new-word collection lists the headword “노바이족” and its definition.[1]
03Origin & word formation
This expression was checked in the National Institute of Korean Language’s 2009 new-word collection. The collection describes people postponing new purchases and consuming through secondhand goods, rentals, and similar means. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationHigh
The headword and definition in the 2010 collection were checked. The original re-quoted articles were not directly opened, so their dates were not used as firstSeen. The original coinage and path of spread remain unverified.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 2009년 신어 자료집 (국립국어원·전주대학교 한국어문화원)Published 2010Original source checked Nov 14, 2026