sasaeng

English

Alternative forms

• saseng

Etymology

Borrowed from Korean 사생팬 (sasaengpaen), from 사생(私生) (sasaeng, “private life”) + 팬 (paen, “fan”).

Noun

sasaeng (plural sasaengs or sasaeng)

1. (South Korean idol fandom) An extremely obsessive K-pop fan whose fixation on an idol is unhealthy and intrusive.
   • 2017, Kristina Manente, “Sasaengs Stalking Seoul”, in Seoul Magazine‎^[1], page 62:

     BTS sasaeng have obtained their schedules, passports and other personal information and offered to sell it online.

   • 2018, Reneta Iwicka, “Every Breath You Take: Sasaeng Fans”, in Jackie Raphael, Celia Lam, Millicent Weber, editors, Disassembling the Celebrity Figure: Credibility and the Incredible‎^[2], page 139:

     The interviewed sasaengs explained how they operated and what they are willing to do to get as close to their idols as possible.

   • 2019, Trish Milburn, Make My Heart Sing‎^[3]:

     She knew the guys were chased by tabloids and sasaengs regularly, but there were certain situations where they no doubt upped their game in pursuit of a juicy scoop.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:sasaeng.

Hypernyms

• stan

Translations

Translations

• Japanese: サセン (sasen)
• Korean: 사생(私生) (ko) (sasaeng)