喪女

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
喪	女
も Grade: S	おんな Grade: 1
kun’yomi

From モテない (motenai, “unpopular”) + 女 (onna, “woman; female”). モテない (motenai) was shortened to モ (mo) and was assigned the kanji 喪 (mo, “mourning”) as phonetic ateji.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mo̞õ̞nːa̠]

Noun

喪(も)女(おんな) • (moonna) 

1. (Internet slang) unpopular woman, unpopular girl

See also

• 喪男 (moo, mootoko, “unpopular guy”)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
喪	女
も Grade: S	じょ Grade: 1
kun’yomi	kan’on

Same derivation as above, using the on'yomi of jo for the 女 character.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mo̞ʑo̞]

Noun

喪(も)女(じょ) • (mojo) 

1. (Internet slang) unpopular woman, unpopular girl
   • 2011, “ワールズエンド・タンスホール”, MARETU [MARETU] (lyrics):

     喪(も)女(じょ)と呼(よ)ばれ十(じゅう)数(すう)年(ねん)

     mojo to yobare jūsūnen

     It's been ten-odd years that I've been called unpopular

See also

• 喪男 (modan, “unpopular guy”)