Nuance Dictionary / Sounds & Sensations
너덜너덜 neo-deol-neo-deol
Reduced to shreds, frayed, or falling apart through heavy use, age, or wear.
What does 너덜너덜 mean?
너덜너덜 (neo-deol-neo-deol) means: Reduced to shreds, frayed, or falling apart through heavy use, age, or wear.
Natives reach for 너덜너덜 when an object tells a visible story of survival—a vocabulary book so heavily thumbed through that the pages hang by threads, or a cardboard box battered by a dozen moves. Using this word doesn't just mean 'old'; it implies a gritty, affectionate kind of endurance, deeply tied to the Korean cultural value of *jeong* (정) toward cherished belongings. Learners often misuse it for things that are merely dirty or slightly scratched, missing the crucial imagery of structural fraying and things actually dangling in pieces.
Other sides of 너덜너덜
◆ Mental & Emotional Exhaustion — While textbooks love using this for old tattered laundry, natives reach for it the moment their brain is reduced to mush by the relentless pressure of modern Korean life—think surviving a brutal *hoesik* after pulling an all-nighter for a performance review under a micromanaging boss. To use this is to show your battle scars; it signals extreme vulnerability, so you only drop it around close coworkers who have suffered the same trench warfare or intimate friends. If you say this to a senior or someone you have to maintain *chemyeon* (face) with, it completely shatters the professional boundary and makes you sound inappropriately dramatic or pitiable.
🎙️ 너덜너덜은 표기 그대로 읽지 않아요 — 실제로는 [너덜러덜]로 소리나요 (유음화). 발음 연습하기 →
How it's actually used
- 단권화 한 노예 수준의 수험서가 너덜너덜해졌다.
dan-gwon-hwa han no-ye su-jun-ui su-heom-seo-ga neo-deol-neo-deol-hae-jyeot-da.
My all-in-one exam prep book, which treated me like a slave, has become completely tattered.
💡 Captures the classic image of a desperate student's textbook shredded from obsessive studying. - 작년에 산 에코백이 매일 들고 다녔더니 너덜너덜해졌어.
jak-nyeon-e san e-ko-baek-i mae-il deul-go da-nyeot-deon-i neo-deol-neo-deol-hae-jyeot-seo.
The eco-bag I bought last year got all frayed and tattered because I carried it every day.
💡 Shows the casual, everyday use of the word for cloth and everyday carry items. - 택배 상자가 너무 낡아서 모서리가 너덜너덜하네요.
taek-bae sang-ja-ga neo-mu nak-a-seo mo-seo-ri-ga neo-deol-neo-deol-ha-ne-yo.
The delivery box is so old that the corners are all torn to shreds.
💡 Demonstrates polite (-neyo) usage when pointing out damaged packaging to a delivery worker or courier.
Related words in Sounds & Sensations
느릿느릿 neu-rit-neu-rit오밀조밀 o-mil-jo-mil오손도손 o-son-do-son오글오글 ogeul-ogeul옥신각신 ok-sin-gak-sin