ボキャ貧 (Bokyahin) Meaning ‘Having a Poor Vocabulary’ in Japanese Slang

Definition

ボキャ貧 (ぼきゃひん, bokyahin) is a Japanese slang term that means “having a poor vocabulary”. In particular, it describes people who always rely on verstile words such as “やばい” (yabai. “sick/cool/oh gosh”) and “すごい” (sugoi, “awesome”) to describe anything. As of 2020, it might be slightly getting outdated, but still used on social media.

The word consists of the two parts “ボキャ” and “貧ひん“. The former stands for “ボキャブラリー”, a loan word from “vocabulary” in English. The kanji character “貧 (ひん)” means “poor”, as in “貧まずしい” meaning “poor” and “貧困ひんこん” meaning “poverty”. See other Japanese portmanteau words (words that combine parts of multiple words) in the related post here.

Example Sentences

Ex1
A: 昨日きのうのパーティーどうだった？
B: マジやばかったし、すごかった。
A: お前まえボキャ貧かよ

A: How was the party yesterday?
B: It was so sick and awesome.
A: You have such a poor vocabulary.

Ex2
味あじ音痴おんちでボキャ貧だから、何なにを食たべても「おいしい」としか言いえない。
Because I have a poor tastebud and a poor vocabulary, I can say nothing but “おいしい (tasty)” whatever I eat.

(Note) 味あじ音痴おんち describes a person who have a poor tastebud. Here, 味あじ means “taste” and 音痴おんち means “poor at understanding”. However, when 音痴 usually means “poor at singing”; see the related post below.

See also

15 Unique Japanese Portmanteau Words with Example Sentences

15 Unique Japanese Portmanteau Words with Example Sentences

音痴 (onchi): ‘Bad Singer’ in Japanese

音痴 (onchi) Meaning “Bad at Singing” in Japanese