ハブる

• Reading: ハブる
• Romaji: haburu
• Kanji breakdown: From 省く (habuku, to omit/leave out) → shortened and verbified as ハブる
• Pronunciation: /ha.bɯ.ɾɯ/

Meaning

To exclude someone from a group or leave them out on purpose.

ハブる describes the social act of deliberately cutting someone out of a friend group, group chat, or activity. It is commonly used in school contexts and is strongly associated with bullying dynamics. Being ハブられる (excluded) is one of the most feared social experiences for Japanese students. The word captures both the active exclusion and the passive experience of being left out.

Examples

1. グループからハブられてお昼一人で食べてた。 I got cut out of the group and ate lunch alone.
2. あの子だけハブるのはさすがにかわいそうだよ。 Excluding just that one person is honestly just cruel.
3. 中学のときハブられた経験って大人になっても忘れない。 Being excluded in middle school is something you never forget, even as an adult.

Usage Guide

Context: school, friends, social dynamics

Tone: negative, accusatory

Do Say

• なんであの子だけハブるの？一緒に誘おうよ。 (Why are you excluding just her? Let's invite her too.)
• ハブられたくないから無理して合わせてる。 (I'm forcing myself to fit in because I don't want to be excluded.)

Don't Say

• 「あなたをハブります」と宣言するのはただのいじめ (Announcing 'I'm going to exclude you' is just straightforward bullying)

Common Mistakes

• Using ハブる casually without realising it carries serious bullying connotations — it describes a form of social aggression, not just a casual omission

Origin & History

Shortened from 省く (habuku, to omit/leave out) and turned into the casual verb ハブる. The term became common in 1990s-2000s school slang as a word for social exclusion within peer groups.

Cultural Context

Era: 1990s-2000s school slang, still current

Generation: Teens to 30s primarily, understood by older generations

Social background: Universal, especially in school contexts

Regional notes: Used across all of Japan. Social exclusion (仲間外れ) is a major topic in Japanese discussions of school bullying.