ang pow
US/ɑŋ(ˈ)paʊ/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Singapore/ˌɑŋ ˈpaʊ/
ang pow noun: synonym of red envelope (“hongbao”).
Noun
ang pow (plural ang pows)
- Synonym of red envelope (“hongbao”).
- However, if you come across kids of the really mercenary kind, then you wish you could snatch back the ang pow from their greedy hands. A kid is supposed to receive an ang pow, thank the giver, then put away his ang pow immediately.1996, Su Kim Lee, Malaysian flavours: insights into things Malaysian, page 88
- A traditional and popular gift, ang pow is given at a house warming, during the tea ceremony to a bridal couple, at a farewell, on a birthday, in return for a favor or a donation, and on other occasions. A symbolic ang pow is given to a prospective client by a coffin maker upon the former exiting...2010, Ooi Keat Gin, The A to Z of Malaysia, →ISBN, page 19
- Synonyms:
- red envelope
Examples of ang pow in a sentence
- A symbolic ang pow is given to a prospective client by a coffin maker upon the former exiting his premises, regardless of any transaction.2010, Ooi Keat Gin, The A to Z of Malaysia, →ISBN, page 19:
- After the scrumptious dinner, which I had never before eaten so much, came to an end, it was customary for the parents to hand out red packages or ang pow to the children and unmarried adults.2014, Bryan Paul Lai, The Joy of Life: The Land Below The Wind, →ISBN, page 87:
- When Chinese New Year came, just after the Alzheimer's diagnosis, I thought all Ma could do was hand out the ang pows.2016, Wong Chai Kee, Even When She Forgot My Name: Love, Life and My Mother’s Alzheimer’s, →ISBN:
Synonyms of ang pow
Forms of ang pow
| plural | ang pows |
|---|---|
| alternative form | angpau |
| alternative form | ang pao |
| alternative form | angpao |
| alternative form | ang pau |
Origin of ang pow
From Hokkien 紅包／红包 (âng-pau, literally “red packet”). Doublet of hong bao.
Words that rhyme with ang pow
Questions about ang pow
- What does ang pow mean?
- Ang pow means synonym of red envelope (“hongbao”).
- How do you use ang pow in a sentence?
- A symbolic ang pow is given to a prospective client by a coffin maker upon the former exiting his premises, regardless of any transaction.
- What part of speech is ang pow?
- Ang pow is a noun.
- How do you pronounce ang pow?
- Ang pow is pronounced /ˌɑŋ ˈpaʊ/ (Singapore).
- What is the plural of ang pow?
- The plural of ang pow is ang pows.
Words near ang pow in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ang pow (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “ang pow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ang_pow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.