Korean slang profile
노잼
nojaem
Not entertaining
An expression meaning that something is boring or not funny.
- Expanded form
- no + 재미Not entertaining
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Feb 18, 2015
- Documented trend period
- Around 2015~
This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.
01Examples, with English translations
- Example by Julimmal
이 영화는 나한테 노잼이었어.
I found this movie boring.
- Quoted from a source
재미없다는 뜻의 ‘노잼’도 있다. 여기에 강조하는 의미의 ‘핵’을 붙여 ‘핵노잼’이라는 말을 쓰기도 한다.[1]
There is also 노잼, meaning unentertaining. Adding the emphatic 핵 produces 핵노잼, meaning extremely unentertaining.
English translation by Julimmal.
02Documented history
- February 2015In an article introducing the abbreviation for the Lunar New Year holiday, the Kyunghyang Shinmun explained the meaning of ‘노잼’ as ‘meaning not fun’ and also introduced ‘hack 노잼’ with ‘hack’ for emphasis.[1]
03Origin & word formation
The article gives the meaning as unentertaining. A formation from “no” and 재미 seems possible, but the article does not explain that structure. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationMedium
The meaning is supported, but the source does not explain how the word is formed.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 손주·조카와 대화하려면 알아두세요 (경향신문)Published Feb 18, 2015Original source checked Nov 5, 2026