マブい

• 読み: マブい
• ローマ字: mabui
• 発音: /ma.bɯ.i/

意味

Beautiful, stunning, or gorgeous — a retro 80s-90s slang word experiencing a nostalgic revival.

マブい is a quintessential piece of 1980s-90s Japanese slang meaning 'beautiful' or 'attractive,' used almost exclusively about people (especially women). It has the energy of a yankii (delinquent) or tough guy appreciating someone's looks with blunt admiration. While it fell out of mainstream use, it has experienced a revival as retro/nostalgic slang — young people use it deliberately for its vintage cool factor, similar to how English speakers might ironically say 'groovy.'

例文

1. あの子マブいな、モデルかなんか？
2. マブいって言葉、昭和感あるけど好き。
3. 若い頃の写真見たらお母さんマブかったんだね。

使い方ガイド

場面: complimenting appearance, retro slang, nostalgia, among friends

トーン: admiring, retro, bluntly appreciative

正しい言い方

• マブいね、その髪型似合ってる。 (You look stunning — that hairstyle suits you.)
• マブいって今使うとレトロでウケる。 (Using 'mabui' nowadays gets laughs because it's so retro.)

避ける言い方

• 知らない人に「マブい」は昭和のナンパに聞こえる (Saying マブい to a stranger sounds like an 80s pickup line — keep it among friends or use it ironically)

よくある間違い

• Using マブい sincerely without awareness of its retro quality — most people under 40 will hear it as deliberately nostalgic or ironic rather than a normal compliment

起源と歴史

Possibly from まぶしい (mabushii, dazzling/blinding), shortened to マブい. It was popular in 1980s-90s yankii (delinquent) culture and general youth slang. After falling out of use, it has been revived in the 2020s as retro slang, often used with knowing nostalgia.

文化的背景

時代: 1980s-90s, retro revival in 2020s

世代: Originally Gen X, revived by Gen Z

社会的背景: Youth, originally yankii culture

地域メモ: Used across all of Japan. Strongly associated with 1980s-90s pop culture and the yankii aesthetic. Its revival is part of a broader trend of レトロブーム (retro boom) in Japanese youth culture.