kaypoh
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Singapore/ˌk˭eɪ ˈp˭o/
kaypoh adjective: being a busybody, prying into the business of others.
Adjective
kaypoh (comparative more kaypoh, superlative most kaypoh)
- Being a busybody, prying into the business of others.
- Hey hey two different matters okay? Our SM already paid so why you so kaypoh?2003 December 13, Kaypoh, “SIA air rage passenger ordered to pay diversion cost”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet)
- “My elder sister and mother don’t like me doing this. They would scold me and say I’m kaypoh.2007 March 26, Yeng Ai Chun, “A task for a ‘busybody’”, in The Star, Malaysia, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Jan 2019
- Synonyms:
- nosy
Noun
kaypoh (plural kaypohs)
- A busybody.
- To get problems rectified, Lim who admits to being a “kaypoh” (busybody), would hassle the relevant authorities.2007 March 26, Yeng Ai Chun, “A task for a ‘busybody’”, in The Star, Malaysia, archived from the original on 02 Jan 2019
Verb
kaypoh (third-person singular simple present kaypohs, present participle kaypohing, simple past and past participle kaypohed)
- To act as a busybody, to pry into the business of others.
- I thought through every angle, then Jesus decides to kaypoh and mess everything up.2000, Hwee Hwee Tan, Foreign Bodies, →ISBN, page 236
- Don't kaypoh so much. Locked door, not allowed to go inside, means don't go—understand?2014, Mānoa - Volume 26, page 38
Examples of kaypoh in a sentence
- The slightest noise eg.^([sic]) me opening an envelope, will have him running up to investigate, being very kaypoh (nosey) by nature.2007 October 6, William K. C. Kee, “My diva dog, Chai Chai”, in The Star, Malaysia, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Jan 2019:
- “If you don't know them, don't kaypoh, Mum.2016, Jason Erik Lundberg, The Epigram Books Collection of Best New Singaporean Short Stories, →ISBN:
Synonyms of kaypoh
Forms of kaypoh
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more kaypoh |
| superlative | most kaypoh |
| alternative form | kepo |
| alternative form | kepoh |
| Noun | |
| plural | kaypohs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | kaypohs |
| present participle | kaypohing |
| past participle | kaypohed |
| past | kaypohed |
Origin of kaypoh
Borrowed from Hokkien 家婆 (ke-pô).
Questions about kaypoh
- What does kaypoh mean?
- Kaypoh means being a busybody, prying into the business of others.
- How do you use kaypoh in a sentence?
- The slightest noise eg.^([sic]) me opening an envelope, will have him running up to investigate, being very kaypoh (nosey) by nature.
- What part of speech is kaypoh?
- Kaypoh can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce kaypoh?
- Kaypoh is pronounced /ˌk˭eɪ ˈp˭o/ (Singapore).
Words near kaypoh in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: kaypoh (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.
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Cite this entry: “kaypoh.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kaypoh. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.