Word.ws English Dictionary

Korean Wave

UK/kəˈɹiːən ˈweɪv/US/kəˈɹi.ən ˈweɪv/

Korean Wave proper noun: the rise in popularity of South Korean popular culture in other countries since the 1990s.

korean wave: the rise in popularity of South Korean popular culture in other countries since the 1990s
Image: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Proper noun (1)

the Korean Wave

  1. The rise in popularity of South Korean popular culture in other countries since the 1990s.
    • The spread of South Korean (hereafter Korean/Korea) popular culture across borders, that is, the Korean Wave or hallyu, whose origin dates back to the late 1990s, is no longer a new phenomenon to media users and scholars of media, communications, cultural, and narrative studies alike.2020, Hyesu Park, Understanding Hallyu: The Korean Wave Through Literature, Webtoon, and Mukbang, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN
    • By the time almost all restrictions on Japanese culture were lifted in January 2004, the Korean Wave—a term coined in China—had washed across Asia.2005, Norimitsu Onishi, Roll Over, Godzilla: Korea Rules, The New York Times

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Korean wave

the Korean wave

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Korean Wave.

Korean Wave meaning in Vietnamese

Korean Wave in Vietnamese

popularity of South Korean culture elsewhere
Hàn lưu

Forms of Korean Wave

alternative formKorean wave
alternative formHallyu
alternative formK-wave

Origin of Korean Wave

Calque of Korean 한류(韓流) (Hallyu, “Korean current”), from Korean + wave.

Questions about Korean Wave

What does Korean Wave mean?
Korean Wave means the rise in popularity of South Korean popular culture in other countries since the 1990s.
What is Korean Wave in Vietnamese?
Korean Wave in Vietnamese is Hàn lưu. See Korean Wave meaning in Vietnamese.
What part of speech is Korean Wave?
Korean Wave is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Korean Wave?
Korean Wave is pronounced /kəˈɹi.ən ˈweɪv/ (US).

Words near Korean Wave in the dictionary

  1. Korean Sign Language
  2. Korean stewartia
  3. Korean stewartias
  4. Korean studies
  5. Korean War
  6. Korean Wave
  7. Korean-style short ribs
  8. Koreanic
  9. Koreanistics
  10. Koreanization
  11. Koreanizations

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Korean Wave (page history and authors); Korean wave (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: “Korean Wave.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/korean_wave. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.