Kilig (Tagalog kilíg, pronounced ki-LIG) is the Filipino word for the rush of excitement a romantic moment gives you: the butterflies-in-the-stomach, flushed, giddy feeling of a crush or a sweet gesture. It has no single English translation, and since March 2016 it has had its own entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Origin
Kilig is an old Tagalog word. Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian kilig, “shudder”, and lists its literal senses as a shiver, shudder, thrill or frisson from excitement, with an obsolete sense of trembling from a snakebite. The romantic meaning, blushing or getting butterflies from romantic excitement, is listed as an extension of that physical shudder.
- March 2016: the OED. Kilig was added to the Oxford English Dictionary’s new-words list for March 2016 as both a noun and an adjective, Rappler reported on April 14, 2016. Earlier Filipino additions included suki, KKB and kikay in 2015.
- 2019: Philippine English. A 2019 Philstar feature on Philippine English words in the OED quoted the dictionary’s definition of kilig as “the exhilaration or elation caused by an exciting or romantic experience”.
Kilig in English: How It Translates
Wikipedia notes there is no clear definition or definite translation. Loose renderings include giddiness, shudder, tremble, tingle and thrill, and the closest English idiom is “tickle pink”.
| Form | Part of speech | Meaning (source) |
|---|---|---|
| kilig | noun | Exhilaration or elation caused by an exciting or romantic experience; a thrill (OED, via Rappler) |
| kilig | adjective | Of a person: exhilarated by an exciting or romantic experience (OED, via Rappler) |
| kilig to the bones | phrase | Utterly thrilled or thrilling (OED, via Rappler) |
| kilig factor | phrase | An element which generates exhilaration, excitement or a romantic thrill (OED, via Rappler) |
| kilig moment | phrase | A thrillingly romantic moment (OED, via Rappler) |
| kinilig | adjective | Excited or thrilled, as from a romantic experience (Wiktionary synonym) |
| kiligin, makilig, pangingilig | derived terms | Tagalog words built on kilig (Wiktionary) |
How It’s Used
Kilig is felt both in your own romance and on behalf of others. Ateneo de Manila sociology faculty member Skilty Labastilla, cited by Wikipedia, says it is usually felt in the first phase of romance, during courtship or the honeymoon phase, and Wikipedia adds that one can also feel kilig watching another couple in a film or TV show.
That second use drives Filipino entertainment fandom. Rappler noted that fans use the word for their favourite real-life couples and onscreen tandems, naming Kim Chiu and Xian Lim, and Alden Richards and Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza, as examples at the time.