Korean slang profile
열공남
yeolgongnam
Short for a man who studies hard.
Short for a man who studies hard.
- Expanded form
- 열심히 공부하는 남자열심히 공부하는 남자 (a man who studies hard)
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Dec 5, 2012
- 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
도서관에 매일 먼저 오는 열공남이 있더라.
There’s a 열공남 who always gets to the library first.
02Documented history
- 2012-12-05“2012년 신어 자료집”, published by the National Institute of Korean Language, included the headword and definition.[1]
03Origin & word formation
The National Institute of Korean Language’s “2012년 신어 자료집” lists the expression and explains its meaning. It describes it as a shortened form of “열심히 공부하는 남자”. Its original creator and exact date of creation have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationMedium
The headword, definition, and examples of usage on PDF page 48 were directly compared. This is based on a single collection; the older article texts quoted there were not directly checked. The earliest verified date is the collection’s publication date, given on the copyright page on PDF page 70.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- 2012년 신어 자료집 — PDF 48쪽 (국립국어원)Published Dec 5, 2012Original source checked Nov 14, 2026