hoobae

English

Alternative forms

• hubae

Etymology

Borrowed from Korean 후배(後輩) (hubae, “junior”). Doublet of kohai.

Noun

hoobae (plural hoobaes)

1. An underclassman or junior, in the context of South Korea.
   • 2010, "The Man in the Middle", Busan HAPS, October/November 2010, page 9:

     I love Korean culture, especially the sunbae/hoobae relationship. And in baseball, you are always someone's sunbae or hoobae.

   • 2012, Seung Hee Yoo, David Matsumoto, “Korean Culture Explored Through Survey Research”, in Anastacia Kurylo, editor, Inter/Cultural Communication: Representation and Construction of Culture, page 400:

     It is expected that hoobaes treat their sunbaes with respect.

   • 2014, Ted Oh, "Korean Student Association makes promise for more inclusion", 30 October 2014, The Georgetown Voice (Georgetown University), page 14:

     The sunbaes and hoobaes want to engage in an unofficial meet-and-greet mentoring session, especially to help the incoming freshmen.

   • 2022, A.J. Pine, Holding Out for a Cowboy, Sourcebooks, →ISBN:

     Lea and Megan, my hubaes, thank you for the shared joy of all things K-drama and K-pop as it’s instilled a whole new level of love and appreciation for writing romance.

2. (South Korean idol fandom) A newer or less experienced idol.

Coordinate terms

• sunbae