· Slangdunk Editors
What does 완내스 (wannaeseu) mean? Korean slang for “totally my style”
완내스 (wannaeseu) is short for 완전 내 스타일, “totally my style” — what you say when something fits your taste exactly. Nobody knows who said it first, but in 2022, 7 in 10 surveyed adults didn't know what it meant.
At a glance
- Meaning
- Short for 완전 내 스타일, “totally my style.” Used for clothes, food, places and people that fit your taste exactly.
- Variations
- 딱내스 (“exactly my style”), and when you don't like it, 안내스 (“not my style”) (Edaily).
- Origin
- Who coined it, and when, isn't confirmed. It already appears as “MZ-generation slang” in a February 2022 Newsquest report.
- Awareness
- In a 2022 Mokhoe Data Institute poll, 71% said they didn't really know what five slang words, including 완내스, meant.
Saturday afternoon at a department store. A 22-year-old stops in front of a knit sweater and says, simply, “Wow, 완내스.” Her 52-year-old mom assumes it's the name of the shop. The characters are made up; every fact in their conversation has a source.
What is 완내스? Let the daughter explain
- Mom (52)완내스? Is that the brand? Never heard of it.
- Daughter (22)No, Mom. 완전 내 스타일 — totally my style. It's short for that. This sweater is exactly my taste.
- Mom (52)Then just say it's pretty.
- Daughter (22)It's not the same as pretty. It means it suits me, whatever anyone else thinks. And it's not just clothes — food, cafés, songs, people too.
- Mom (52)Is there an opposite? For when you look at the clothes I pick for you.
- Daughter (22)안내스. Not my style. And if it's really perfect, 딱내스. Even Edaily's slang column lists them as the official(?) variations.
- Mom (52)Who made it up?
- Daughter (22)Nobody knows. What's confirmed is that a Newsquest article in February 2022 already called it “a word the MZ generation uses.” There's no record of who said it first, or when.
- Mom (52)I'm not the only one who doesn't know, right?
- Daughter (22)Not at all. That article cites a Mokhoe Data Institute poll: they asked 698 subscribers about five words like 완내스 and 스불재, and 71% said they didn't really know what they meant. Only 1% knew all of them.
- Mom (52)Do celebrities use it?
- Daughter (22)In 2023, BIGBANG's Taeyang ran a slang quiz on MBC's “Omniscient Interfering View,” and Go Kyung-pyo got it right: “완내스 means totally my style.” Gukje News reported it.
- Mom (52)Fine. Then paying for this sweater is not my style.
- Daughter (22)Mom… that is so 안내스.
완내스
Short for 완전 내 스타일, “totally my style”: an exclamation for when something — clothes, food, a place, a song, a person — fits your taste exactly.
In Korean: '완전 내 스타일'의 줄임말. 무언가가 내 취향에 딱 맞을 때 쓰는 감탄 표현.
- 이 카페 조명이랑 음악 뭐야, 완전 완내스The lighting and music in this café — totally 완내스.Taking photos before even ordering
- 소개팅 상대 어땠어? / 음… 솔직히 완내스였어How was your blind date? / Hmm… honestly, 완내스.A friend interrogating you the next morning
- 그 색깔은 좀 안내스… 다른 거 없어?That color's a bit 안내스… got anything else?Using 안내스, “not my style”
- 이 노래 첫 소절부터 딱내스다This song is 딱내스 from the first line.딱내스 is one notch more certain
- 완내스가 뭐니? 완두콩 내놓으라는 거니?What's 완내스? Is it about handing over the peas (완두콩)?Mom (her daughter did the searching for her)
Why has 완내스 stuck around?
Because it moves the compliment from “people would say” to “I say.” “Pretty” is a judgment; 완내스 is a confession, and nobody can argue with a confession. It's three syllables, and swapping the first one gives you 딱내스 or the exact opposite, 안내스. Like 스불재, which appeared in the same lists, or 사바사 (“it depends on the person”), slang about personal taste tends to last. These days there's even 추구미, the look you aspire to.
완내스 (wannaeseu): frequently asked questions
Q. What does 완내스 (wannaeseu) mean?
It's short for 완전 내 스타일, “totally my style.” You say it when clothes, food, a place, a song or a person fits your taste exactly.
Q. Where does 완내스 come from?
It's made from the first syllables of 완전 내 스타일. Who coined it and when isn't confirmed; a February 2022 Newsquest article already listed it as MZ-generation slang.
Q. What's the opposite of 완내스?
안내스, “not my style.” For extra emphasis, people say 딱내스, “exactly my style” (Edaily, Mar 15, 2023).
Q. What's 완내스 in English?
“Totally my style,” “so my vibe” or “right up my alley.” For a person, “totally my type” sounds natural.
Q. Can I say 완내스 to someone senior?
It's casual spoken slang, best among friends and peers. In formal settings or with seniors you don't know well, “제 취향이에요” (“it's my taste”) is safer.
So 완내스 is three syllables for your own taste instead of everyone else's verdict. Mom ended up buying the sweater, and her daughter called her “완내스 mom.” Whether that's a compliment, Mom is still looking up. If you have a sharper definition, add it to the 완내스 entry in the dictionary.
Sources
See ‘완내스’ in the dictionary — more definitions, examples, and your own take.
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