억지

Korean

Etymology

Of native Korean origin. Probably related to the first element of 억누르다 (eongnureuda, “to repress”), and to 우기다 (ugida, “to stubbornly insist on”). -ji is probably a suffix; the Gyeongsang dialect has the form 욱 (uk) for this term.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ʌ̹k̚t͡ɕ͈i]
• Phonetic hangul: [억찌]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	eokji
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	eogji
McCune–Reischauer?	ŏkchi
Yale Romanization?	ekci

Noun

억지 • (eokji)

1. the stubbornness of attempting to forcefully do something which would not naturally happen

   억지를 부려 돈을 받아냈다.

   eokji-reul buryeo don-eul badanaetda.

   He got the money from them by stubbornly insisting.

   너의 주장은 순 억지야.

   neo-ui jujang-eun sun eokji-ya.

   Your claims are sheer stubbornness.

2. a forced thing

   그녀의 웃음은 억지였다.

   geunyeo-ui useum-eun eokji-yeotda.

   Her smile was forced.

   억지 눈물을 쥐어짰다.

   eokji nunmur-eul jwieojjatda.

   He squeezed out crocodile tears.

Derived terms

• 억지스럽다 (eokjiseureopda, “to look forced”)