kigurumi

Noun

kigurumi (plural kigurumi or kigurumis)

1. A full-body costume of a cartoon character (typically a mascot of cartoonish proportions) originating in Japan.
   • The -sona community engages in activities similar to cosplay practices in that it appropriates, to various degrees, kigurumi and other characters from popular culture; fans assume these characters in terms of appearance and/or as an “embodied costumed character.”2022, Frenchy Lunning, “Cosplay: A Social History of Mass Culture and Identity”, in Cosplay: The Fictional Mode of Existence, Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN, page 55
   • One time, I cast a focus spell by doing my work while eating animal crackers, in a kigurumi, on a swing set. The next time, though, the swing set hurt my hands, the kigurumi was too hot, and the animal crackers reminded me that I'd been wanting to go to the zoo.2024, Jessica McCabe, chapter 3, in Elysia Liang, editor, How to ADHD, New York: Rodale Books, →ISBN, page 49

   Synonyms:

   kig, kigu

2. A full-body cosplay of a human cartoon character with realistic proportions paired with an anime-style mask, originating in Japan; also (metonymic), the anime-style mask used in such a cosplay.

   Synonyms:

   animegao, kig, kigu

3. A themed onesie, typically in the style of a cartoon animal.

   Synonyms:

   kig, kigu