What Does 아저씨 (Ajusshi) Mean in Korean?
Written and reviewed by Jun and Jin, native Korean speakers
Published · Updated · How we write & review
After this page, you can tell when calling a man 아저씨 (ajusshi) is fine, when it isn't, and when 삼촌 (samchon) sounds warmer.
10-second answer
What does Ajusshi mean?
아저씨 (ajusshi) means a middle-aged man — roughly "mister." It's the standard way to refer to or address adult men you have no personal relationship with: taxi drivers, shopkeepers, repairmen. It's less loaded than 아줌마 (ajumma), but it still marks the man as older and as a stranger — so context matters.
Quick check — did that land?
1. Which situation is the most natural use of 아저씨?
아저씨! It means mister for an adult man you don't know, like a taxi driver.
Quick Examples
아저씨, 시청까지 가 주세요.
ajeossi, sicheong-kkaji ga juseyo.
Mister (driver), please take me to City Hall.
Classic taxi usage — completely normal. Still fine, but these days many people say 기사님 (gisanim) to a taxi driver instead — 아저씨 has been picking up a negative nuance, and everyday speech leans toward extra politeness. (An older word, 운전수 (unjeonsu), is rarely used now.)
옆집 아저씨는 친절해요.
yeopjip ajeossi-neun chinjeolhaeyo.
The man next door is kind.
저 아저씨 아니거든요?!
jeo ajeossi anigeodeunyo?!
Excuse me, I'm not an ajusshi!
A young man's joking protest at being called old.
A note on spelling. The official romanization of 아저씨 is ajeossi, but you'll see the word written many ways: ajusshi, ajussi, ajushi, ajusi, ahjussi, ahjusshi, ahjushi or ajoshi. They're all the same word. The spelling you meet most often in K-drama subtitles and fan writing is ahjussi or ajusshi.
See also: 형 (hyeong) — what it means
When 아저씨 Is Fine — and When It Isn't
| Situation | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Taxi driver, repairman, street vendor | Fine — conventional |
| A man in his 20s–30s | Risky — he may not enjoy being aged up |
| A shop owner you want to flatter | 사장님 (boss) works better |
| Someone you're close to | Wrong — closeness upgrades him to 형/오빠 or a name/title |
K-drama fans may remember the film and drama titles using 아저씨 (the 2010 film was exported as "The Man from Nowhere") — the word carries a slightly distant, anonymous flavor: a grown man you don't really know.
The polite fuller form for a middle-aged man in formal speech is 아저씨 → (more politely) calling by role: 기사님 for drivers, 사장님 for owners, 선생님 for someone you respect. Role titles are the real politeness system for strangers in Korea.
아저씨 vs 삼촌: Stranger vs Warm
아저씨 and 삼촌 can both point at the same kind of man — middle-aged, not a blood relative — but they carry opposite emotional temperatures. 아저씨 keeps distance: it's the default, slightly formal word for a stranger. 삼촌, borrowed from the family word for "uncle," gets used warmly for a man who's a genuine family friend or feels close, the way you might casually call a parent's close friend "uncle" in English even without blood ties. If a taxi driver becomes a regular you chat with every week, you might eventually shift from 아저씨 to a friendlier 삼촌 — the word choice itself tracks the growing familiarity.
아재 개그 — "dad jokes"
아재 개그 (ajae gaegeu, "ajae comedy") is the Korean equivalent of "dad jokes" — corny puns and groan-worthy wordplay stereotypically associated with middle-aged men. 아재 is a casual, slangy form of 아저씨 (the dictionary lists it as a lower form), and the joke name is always built with it: people say 아재 개그, not 아저씨 개그. If a pun lands badly enough to make people groan rather than laugh, calling it 아재 개그 is a common, affectionate jab.
What the Dictionary Says: 아저씨 Started as a Family Word
Today 아저씨 mostly means "a man you don't know," but the Standard Korean Language Dictionary lists that sense third. Its first senses are about family: a male relative of your parents' generation (other than your father's own brothers), and a father's unmarried younger brother. It also records 아저씨 as a way to refer to a 고모부 or 이모부 — the husbands of your aunts (이모 and 고모).
The stranger sense is illustrated in the dictionary with 기사 아저씨, 여기서 세워 주세요 ("Driver, please stop here"), and job + 아저씨 is still an everyday way to talk about men in service work. On its own, though, 아저씨 has been picking up an increasingly negative nuance. Speaking to a driver, 기사님 is the more polite choice — and in a taxi you don't need either word at all (taxi phrases).
경비 아저씨께 맡겨 주세요.
gyeongbi ajeossikke matgyeo juseyo.
Please leave it with the security guard.
Talking ABOUT a man by his job + 아저씨 — still common.
The dictionary pairs 아저씨 with 아주머니 — the softer form of 아줌마. It also lists 아재 as a lower, more casual form of 아저씨, and that's the word in 아재 개그 (ajae gaegeu), the Korean name for the "dad jokes" described above.
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1 — Calling a young man 아저씨
Like 아줌마 for women, it ages the listener. Young men joke-protest, but it can genuinely land badly. 저기요 is the neutral call.
Mistake #2 — Using 아저씨 for someone you know
Once there's a relationship, Koreans switch to a name, a role title (기사님, 사장님), or a kinship word. Staying with 아저씨 keeps the person at stranger distance.
Mini Quiz
2 short questions — about 1 minute
2. You want to flatter the middle-aged man who owns the shop. What do you call him?
3. What is the female counterpart of 아저씨?
Part of Korean Kinship & Address Terms — The Complete Beginner Map
Related Knowledge
Learn Next
The female counterpart — same logic, but with sharper sensitivities worth knowing before you use it.
Will you remember this tomorrow?
Save it — your daily review brings it back right before you'd forget. No account needed.