Dictionary

lepak en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˌleɪˈpɑk/ (Singapore)
• (General-American) audio
• [ˌle(ː)ˈpɑk̚] (Singapore)

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay lepak.

Meanings

1. (Malaysia, Singapore, intransitive) To loiter about casually or idly, to hang around unproductively, to laze around or relax.
   • We do things together and we lepak together quite a bit (hey, this is the solution to the lepak problem: the family that lepaks together stays together). 1997, Marina Mahathir, In Liberal Doses, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Archipelago Press, →ISBN, page 118:
   • The study's operational definition was that "a teenager lepaks if he gathers and remains in a public place without any special purpose other than chattering or laughing." 1998, Thomas A. Williamson, Leaving Town: Kuala Kangsar’s Colonial Past and the Postponed Nation in Malaysia (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, →OCLC, page 344:
   • I think we should rally behind PM [the Prime Minister] for the sake of national unity. Without national unity, there will be more single mothers, abandoned babies, people lepaking (loitering) … 1997, Aliran Monthly, volumes 17–18, Pinang, Malaysia: Aliran Kesedaran Negara, →OCLC, page 19, column 3:
   • "What do you think will happen?" a reporter asked a beautiful girl lepaking and smoking outside the Starbucks in Bukit Bintang Plaza. "Oh, at the bewitching midnight hour, everything will be back to normal. The office workers at Sri Hartamas will be back to their humdrum 9 to 5 jobs, no doubt bitching and wishing they were elsewhere." 2005, T. R. R. Raman, The Wedgwood Ladies Football Club and Other Stories, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Silverfishbooks, →ISBN, page 189:
   • Cafes mushroomed everywhere in KL's [Kuala Lumpur's] trendiest spots, and big names such as Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Starbucks made their presence felt. With these cafes, KLites often lepaked (hung out) way into the wee hours and now it has become a part of our pop culture. 2011, Tony Wilson, “Beyond Attitudes: To the Audience Itself!: Understanding Consumers: Interpretive Inductivism”, in Global Advertising, Attitudes and Audiences (Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies; 44), New York, N.Y.; Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 36:

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