Dictionary

otome en · NOUN

Etymology

From Japanese 乙女 (otome, “young girl; maiden”).

Meanings

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of otome game.
   alt of otome game
   • Also, otomes featuring BL [boys' love] generally let you pick the gender of the protagonist, or leave the gender vague. 2024, Elizabeth Kopriva Hedström, quoting Darrel, “A brief study of indie otome developers: Who is making indie otome games, and why?”, in Halmstad University, archived from the original on 18 Jun 2025, page 23:
   • While acknowledging that dating games in Japan were long confined to men and boys, these otomes are described by their makers as a response to the identification of a potent market considering the widespread use of mobile phones amongst young women. 2014, Nitali Joshi, “'May I know who is on the line?': Technology consumption, mobile telephony and the gender question”, in SubVersions: A Journal of Emerging Research in Media and Cultural Studies, volume 2, number 2, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2022, page 44:
   • I have gay ones, too, but the otomes are more popular, so they tend to be of higher quality. 2022, Kieran Frank, Christmas in a Safe Room, unnumbered page:

Forms