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中二病 chuunibyou
That phase. You know the one.
What does chuunibyou mean?
That phase where you are secretly special, wear only black, and name your imaginary powers. Almost everyone survives it.
Example
昔は黒い服ばかり着てた、中二病だったな。
I used to wear nothing but black — total middle-school phase.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Be careful This one carries weight. Read the meaning and the story before you say it to anyone.
About yourself this usually passes as a joke. Aimed at someone else it is an insult.
The story behind chuunibyou
中二 means second year of middle school, roughly fourteen, and 病 means illness. The word was coined on a late-night radio show at the end of the 1990s, as a joke about the speaker's own teenage self, and listeners recognised the symptoms instantly. Nobody ever meant it as a diagnosis.
A light novel series and its animation carried it much wider around 2012, and by then the definition had hardened: the secret special powers, the wardrobe of black, the sudden interest in obscure philosophy, the certainty that everyone else is asleep. The gentlest thing about it is that it is almost always aimed at yourself, in the past tense.
Get chuunibyou in your pocket
中二病 is one of 308 words in YABAI, a Japanese culture snack for Android. Every word comes with its meaning, an example sentence, a vibe check and a story like the one above — in 13 languages, read aloud by your device. Paid app: no ads, no sign-up, no subscription.
