Indonesian curse words are the last topic that I want to talk about. The main reason is that it can easily cause misunderstanding when used by non-native speakers. However, one day, one of students said, “How do we know if we are being cursed?”. That was a good point I said. With that, please use this word list to recognize swear words said by Indonesians or when you are in a furious situation.
Want to know how the swear words sound? Watch this short video
Swear words spoken by YouTubers
List of Common Indonesian swear words:
Goblok! – stupid!
Anjing! – dog!
Asu! – dog! (derived from Javenese but widely used)
Bangsat! – son of a bitch! (the literal meaning is bed bugs)
Bajingan – bastard
Babi lo – you’re a pig
Kampret – damn (the literal meaning is bats)
Kontol – dick (in Javanese)
Sampah – rubbish
Sialan – damn it
Tai, taik – shit
Most offensive Indonesian Swear Words
This will depend on how the curse words are used and who the words are addressed to. Like in English, swear words in Indonesian are also used in a joking way. A lot of comedians, for example, say swear words to emphasize meanings or to make their jokes funnier.
Another thing who the bad word is directed to. Muslims, for examples, will find babi and anjing are offensive. This is due to their belief that those animals are considered dirty and haram, forbidden to touch or to eat by Islamic Law.
However, among the words above, most Indonesians would agree that bangsat and bajingan are the most offensive words if used to curse people.
Gender-Related Bad Words
Banci – a lady boy (normally used to say a person is a coward)
Maho, stands for manusia homo – gay people (used for people who act gay)
Buaya darat – a womanizer (used for men who are always after girls)
Pelacur – a prostitute (used for women who slept with men a lot)
Wanita murahan – cheap girls
Now that you know most of swear words in Indonesia, I hope you can use them wisely. If you need a teacher to correct your word usages or improve your Indonesian in general, check out our online classes.
Tetap semangat – keep it up!
