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sekali

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Singapore/ˈs(ə)kɑli/

sekali adverb: what if, lest (something problematic or unanticipated happens).

Adverb

sekali (not comparable)

  1. (Singlish) What if, lest (something problematic or unanticipated happens)
    • […] the instruction all says to deep fry them, so dared not buy - sekali raw dough, how to eat?2004, Bug [pseudonym], soc.culture.singapore (Usenet)
    • […] make sure he’s activated the right ringtone, sekali you, ahem, raise the wrong hopes.2004 January 2, Colin Goh, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page L12
    Synonyms:
    later
  2. (Singlish, at the beginning of a clause) Suddenly and unexpectedly.

Synonyms of sekali

Forms of sekali

alternative formsakali

Origin of sekali

Semantic shift from Malay sekali (“once”).

Questions about sekali

What does sekali mean?
Sekali means what if, lest (something problematic or unanticipated happens).
What part of speech is sekali?
Sekali is an adverb.
How do you pronounce sekali?
Sekali is pronounced /ˈs(ə)kɑli/ (Singapore).

Words near sekali in the dictionary

  1. sejunctively
  2. sejunctly
  3. Sek
  4. Seka
  5. Sekak
  6. sekali
  7. Sekanais
  8. Sekani
  9. sekaninaite
  10. sekaninaites
  11. sekanjabin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sekali (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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