Gen-Z & Cutesy
emo
ī mōu (English loan)
In English
feeling down / in my feels
Illustration
coming soon
Declining · Fading but still aliveliterally: from English "emotional / emo"
What does emo mean?
Feeling suddenly down, moody, or melancholic — often late at night for no clear reason. Used as a verb: 我 emo 了.
Hear it explained
Short audio explainer coming soon.
Example
一到晚上我就开始 emo。
Yī dào wǎnshang wǒ jiù kāishǐ emo.
Every night I start spiraling into my feels.
Where emo comes from
Borrowed from the English emo subculture, stripped of the music association and turned into a catch-all verb for a low mood. Past its 2021-2022 peak.