Nuance Dictionary / Grammar
마저 Majeo
Even the very last remaining positive option or person, leaving absolute despair.
What does 마저 mean?
마저 (Majeo) means: Even the very last remaining positive option or person, leaving absolute despair.
Textbooks love to translate '마저' as a simple 'even,' grouping it with 도 and 까지. But native speakers reach for '마저' only when a grim domino effect has finally reached its bitter end—when the one final pillar of hope you thought was safe has crumbled. It is the grammatical equivalent of the final lock clicking shut on a trapdoor. Learners throw it around casually like '도,' completely missing the heavy, suffocating weight of total defeat.
Other sides of 마저
◆ Creeping Escalation — Textbooks love to gloss '마저' as a simple synonym for 'even' (조차도), missing the sheer psychological weight natives attach to it. This facet isn't about mere addition; it’s the linguistic sound of a domino falling after you thought the chain reaction had finally stopped. When you use this, you are mapping a descent where things were already bad, worse happened, and now—with a grim, exhausted finality—even the absolute last line of defense has crumbled.
How it's actually used
- 믿었던 친구마저 나를 의심하기 시작했다.
mit-eot-deon chin-gu-ma-jeo na-reul ui-sim-ha-gi si-jak-haet-da.
Even the friend I trusted began to doubt me.
💡 When betrayal hits the one person you thought would never turn on you. - 마지막 희망이었던 통장 잔고마저 바닥을 드러냈다.
ma-ji-mak huim-ang-i-eot-deon tong-jang jan-go-ma-jeo ba-dak-eul deureo-naet-da.
Even my bank account balance, my last hope, hit rock bottom.
💡 The dramatic final nail in the coffin of financial ruin. - 불타는 건물 안에서 비상구마저 잠겨 있었다.
bul-ta-neun geon-mul an-e-seo bi-sang-gu-ma-jeo jam-gyeo is-seot-da.
Inside the burning building, even the emergency exit was locked.
💡 Absolute despair when the final escape route fails.
Related words in Grammar
마련이다 Maryeonida오락가락 Orak-garakㄹ/을 지경이다 R/eul jigeong-ida셈이다 Sem-ida설렁설렁 seolleong-seolleong