Korean · South Korea

씨발

ssibal[ɕ͈iba̠ɭ]

Listen to how locals say it.

This entry covers 씨발, an expression in Korean as used in South Korea.

Machine translation Some text on this page is machine-translated and has not been reviewed yet.

Contents

Meaning

A vulgar Korean interjection roughly equal to “fuck!” or “shit!”, used when angry or startled.^[1]^[2]Machine-assisted translation

Pronunciation

Romanization: ssibal
IPA: [ɕ͈iba̠ɭ]

“ssi-bal” — tense s, flat a.^[1]^[2]

Intensity

SWEAR LEVEL

Rated in-culture by native reviewers, on three separate axes.

VulgarityExtreme

Assessed as how taboo the word itself is inside its own culture.

AggressivenessVery Strong

Assessed at the most aggressive natural use aimed at a person.

Social riskVery Strong

Assessed as what the speaker risks when saying it to a stranger on the street.

How common

Social Risk

Assessed social risk by setting.

With friendsLow risk
At schoolBest avoided
At workBest avoided
On the streetContext-dependentIn front of strangers it can escalate into a confrontation.
OnlineLow risk

Low risk
Context-dependent
Best avoided

Shape and colour encode the same value.

Verification

Content review: Not verified yet
Translation: Machine-translated, review pending
Sources last checked: 2026-08-28

Not verified yetWaiting for native review

Published after an automated pre-check. No native reviewer has confirmed it yet.

A correction desk opens once native review starts. Until then this page records what the sources say.

How it's used

Very common in casual speech among peers, but Korean age and status hierarchy makes it far riskier upward — to elders, teachers or at work it is a serious breach.^[1]^[2]Machine-assisted translation

Cultural context

Wiktionary derives it from 씹할 (“who will fuck”), a clipping of a longer curse phrase; the chat abbreviation ㅅㅂ is standard online.^[1]^[2]Machine-assisted translation

Literal meaning

(one) who will fuck^[1]^[2]

When to avoid it

Situations in which the expression is generally best avoided.

At school — Best avoided
At work — Best avoided
On the street — Context-dependent. In front of strangers it can escalate into a confrontation.

Sources

Every claim on this page traces back to these entries.

↑Meaning ↑Pronunciation ↑How it's used ↑Cultural context ↑Literal meaning 씨발 — English Wiktionary (Korean)Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · summarised and translated here · accessed 2026-08-28
↑Meaning ↑Pronunciation ↑How it's used ↑Cultural context ↑Literal meaning 씨발 — 위키낱말사전 (Korean Wiktionary)Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · summarised and translated here · accessed 2026-08-28

Passages derived from these dictionary entries are redistributed under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.