Standard Lemma guide

K-pop

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkeɪˌpɒp/
  • General-American: /ˈkeɪˌpɑp/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪpɒp

1

noun

Meaning 1

South Korean pop music influenced by Western styles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A lollipop containing the drug ketamine.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Alternative letter-case form of K-pop.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English Koreanclip. English K- English pop English J-popinflu. English K-pop From K- (“Korean”) + pop, by analogy with J-pop.

From the first letter of ketamine + pop (“lollipop”).

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: كِيْ بُوب (kē būb) — South Korean pop music
  • Arabic: بُوبْ كُورِيّ (būb kūriyy) — South Korean pop music
  • Bulgarian: ке́й-поп (kéj-pop) — South Korean pop music
  • Burmese: ကေပေါ့ (kepau.) — South Korean pop music
  • Catalan: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Chinese Mandarin: 韓國流行音樂 /韩国流行音乐 (Hánguó liúxíng yīnyuè) — South Korean pop music
  • Dutch: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • French: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • French: pop coréenne — South Korean pop music
  • German: K-Pop — South Korean pop music
  • Bavarian German: K-Pop — South Korean pop music
  • Hungarian: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Indonesian: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Italian: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Japanese: Kポップ (kē-poppu) — South Korean pop music
  • Japanese: K-POP (kē-poppu) — South Korean pop music
  • Japanese: ケー・ポップ (kē-poppu) — South Korean pop music
  • Korean: K-pop (kei-pap) — South Korean pop music
  • Korean: K팝 (keipap) — South Korean pop music
  • Korean: 케이팝 (keipap) — South Korean pop music
  • Korean: 한국 팝 음악 (han'guk pap eumak) — South Korean pop music
  • Marathi: के-पॉप (ke-pŏp) — South Korean pop music
  • Mongolian: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Mongolian: К-поп (K-pop) — South Korean pop music
  • Norwegian: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Occitan: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Polish: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Portuguese: K-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Russian: кей-по́п (kej-póp) — South Korean pop music
  • Russian: коре́йский поп (koréjskij pop) — South Korean pop music
  • Russian: коре́йская поп-му́зыка (koréjskaja pop-múzyka) — South Korean pop music
  • Spanish: k-pop — South Korean pop music
  • Spanish: pop coreano — South Korean pop music
  • Spanish: keipop — South Korean pop music
  • Thai: เคป็อป — South Korean pop music
  • Vietnamese: K-Pop — South Korean pop music
Real reading context

K-pop in complete knowledge articles