wayang
/ˈwɑjɑŋ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.88 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A theatrical performance of mythological events employing puppets or human dancers in Malaysia and Indonesia (especially Java).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Any traditional theatrical work, combining drama, music, song and sometimes dance.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Any traditional theatrical work, combining drama, music, song and sometimes dance.
Countable; Uncountable
verb
To put up a front, to pretend (e.g., to be hard at work when one’s superiors are watching) or behave in a false and misleading way, especially if it puts one at an advantage.
adj
For show, insincere or fake; ostentatious and showy.
Example Sentences
- "There had been two important reservations made on the practice of consultation and consensus. […] The other reservation is that consultation and consensus is no more than a “wayang”, because views are not accepted and no changes are made to the original policy."
- "Besides being adept at directing actors from behind the camera, [Royston] Tan is a bit of a wayang king himself."
- "Dr Chee called the polls a ‘wayang’ and said they were being held so that the PAP could claim to have the people’s mandate to govern."
- "Mr [Inderjit] Singh […] had said earlier that Mr [James] Gomez told him the minority certificate incident was just a ‘wayang’, Malay for theatre."
- "They have to review whether they have revealed too much to the public before the wayang goes on."
- "[…] some [MPs] have to do wayang wayang in the evening like meet the people sessions."
Etymology
Transliteration of Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination; puppetry”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ via Malay wayang. Cognate with Dutch wajang.
Word Breakdown
- Root: wayaṅ, wayang