갑질 (gapjil)

What it means

1. 1.

   Abuse of a position of power over someone dependent on you: a client humiliating a supplier, an executive berating cabin crew, a landlord leaning on a tenant.

2. 2.

   A term of public accusation rather than private grumbling. Korean news reports use it directly, and several corporate scandals have been named with it.

Examples with translations

• 그건 명백한 갑질이야.

  That is straightforwardly an abuse of position.

• 갑질 논란으로 사과문이 올라왔다.

  They put out an apology over the bullying allegations.

Where it comes from

갑 and 을 are the labels for the first and second parties in a Korean contract — Party A and Party B. 갑 came to mean the side with the power, and the suffix -질 (denoting a demeaning activity) does the rest. The word is a piece of legal boilerplate turned into an indictment.

First attested: around 2013

Other forms

Romanised as:

gapjil