Dictionary

waifu en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈwaɪ.fuː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈwaɪ.fu/ (General-American)

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese ワイフ (waifu). Doublet of wife. Compare husbando.

Meanings

1. (Internet, slang) A female fictional character from non-live-action visual media (typically an anime, manga, or video game) or non-fictional persona to whom one is romantically attracted and/or whom one considers one's wife.
   • So long as I get to claim my virtual waifu and our 30 virtual children as tax deductions, I don't really care if I can't touch her. 2008 October 30, Galen, “Re: Japanese launch campaign to marry comic book characters”, in rec.arts.manga (Usenet):
   • “Literally no one asked us to launch waifus, but we did so anyway,” wrote Ebby Amir, whose X account has a label saying he’s an xAI employee. 2025 July 16, David Ingram, “Musk's Grok 'companions' include a flirty anime character and an anti-religion panda”, in NBC News:
   • Seriously, it was fun, but here's hoping that they lay off some of the bits that got old real quick, like Mio getting scared easily. I would not like to have someone that timid as "mai waifu" (as if I'd marry a bloody high school girl anyway). Makes me wonder what that says about the otaku who worship her. 2009 December 31, Dave Watson, “Re: K-ON! 2nd season announced”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):
   • Bradley Meek's portrayal of Lucky☆Star's protagonist is particularly worthy of notice in assessing the anime's take on the art-play dyad: “Konata Izumi is a high school otaku hardcore enough to know trivia about seventies giant robot and tokusatsu shows,” the critic proposes, “but not hardcore enough to own a bodypillow of her waifu [a 2D significant other]. […] 2012, Dani Cavallaro, Kyoto Animation: A Critical Study and Filmography, McFarland & Company, published 2012, →ISBN, page 126:

Forms

Coordinates

husbando

Deriveds

boyfu · waifu pillow

Relateds

mai

Synonyms

'er indoors · her indoors · missus · boss · wifekin · ball and chain · little woman · wife · wifelet · better half · memsahib · trouble and strife · old lady · geezer · frow · old woman · little lady · trouble · wifeling · wifey · lady · dutch · bride

Translations (19)

hi वाइफ़ु (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · tr waifu (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · cmn 嫁 (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · pt waifu (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · fr waifu (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · pl waifu (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · th ไวฟุ (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · cmn 老婆 (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · it waifu (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · es waifu (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · ja 嫁 (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · fi waifu (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · ru ва́йфу (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · ro waifu (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · bn ওয়াইফু (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · bg вайфу (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · fa وایفو (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · ar وايفو (fictional character to whom one is attracted to) · az vayfu (fictional character to whom one is attracted to)