kohai

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kohai

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Japanese 後(こう)輩(はい) (kōhai, literally “later cohort”). Doublet of hoobae.

noun kohais · kohai · kōhai · kouhai

A junior member of a group in Japanese arts; mentee. Juniors may forget their obligation to be in turn good seniors. Seniors may demand too much of their juniors. Some kohai are ungrateful. The system of interrelationship, however, continues to follow the form set by the ideal of unselfish sympathy and involvement.
slang An underclassman or younger student.

Opposite: senpai

Thesaurus

noun

Opposite: senpai

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MLA

"kohai." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/kohai. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

kohai. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/kohai

Chicago

"kohai." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/kohai.

BibTeX

@misc{kohai_2026,
  title = {kohai},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/kohai},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}