What does kimoi mean? キモイ?きもい?
“Kimoi” is an abbreviation for “Kimochi warui（きもちわるい：気持ち悪い）”.
It is literally an emotional expression that shows disgust.
It means “Your (that person’s) appearance or behavior, or a certain situation or thing makes me feel disgusted.”
The original phrase “Kimochi warui” is also used to mean “feeling unwell”, whereas the slang “kimoi” is used when you see something.
Japanese people say “kimochi warui” or “kibun ga warui” when “feeling sick” or “not feeling well”, not “kimoi”.
“Kimoi” is used among young people or some adults in Japan. It is often seen on SNSs,
Some say that such words began to spread in the 1990s, but some say that “kimoi” was already used by some young people in the 1970s.
These words are used when you feel uncomfortable when you see something disgusting whereas, at the same time, it often means “Go away” as you feel too disgusted to explain your feeling.
“Kimoi”, which has been euphonically changed as follows;
“Kimo（キモ、キモッ、キモー）”
“Kinmo-（きんもー、キンモー）”
“Kimee（キメー、キメェ）”
“Kimee” is a pronunciation, in manners that euphonically changed by the townspeople in the Edo period.
If there was a double vowel “ai” in the adjectives, they extended it to “ee” and pronounced it.
Some words are still used today. For example,
”Nai（ない：無い）” → 「Nee（ねぇ：無ぇ）」
Not, nothing
“Umai（うまい：上手い、美味い）” → “Umee（うめぇ）”
Good at it, tasty, delicious
“Urusai（うるさい）” → “Urusee（うるせぇ）”
Noisy
“Dekai（でかい）” → “Dekee（でけぇ）”
Huge, large, big
“Amai（甘い：あまい）” → “Amee（あめぇ）”
Sweet
“Wakaranai（わからない：分からない）” → “Wakaranee（わからねぇ）”
Don’t know
“Arigatai（ありがたい：有難い）” → “Arigatee（ありがてぇ）”
I thank, appreciate
Therefore, the following slang is used in the same way.
“Kimoi” → “Kimee（きめぇ）”
“Uzai” → “Uzee（うぜぇ）”
This changed way of speaking is very casual. It is mainly used by Japanese men, but recently it has been used among young people and female students, or on SNSs.
Many young people and some adults who really want to mean it, they often add “cho / chou” or “maji（まじ、マジ）” at the front of “kimoi”.
“Cho kimoi! （超キモイ！）”
“Chou kimee! （超キメエェ！）”
“Maji kimoi（マジキモイ）”
Both “Cho / chou” and “maji” mean “really”, “seriously”, “honestly” and the like.
Other words similar to “kimoi”
There are also similar slangs “uzai（うざい、ウザい）” and “kishoi / kisyoi（きしょい）”.
“Kimoi” is used when you feel that you feel disgusted with the first impression, but “uzai”‘ is used when you feel “troublesome” or ” nuisance” after being involved with the person for a while.
So, if you continue to be asked for by a “kimoi” person, then that person will become a “uzai” person.
“Kishoi / kisyoi” has a similar meaning to “kimoi”. An abbreviation for “Kikyoku warui（きしょく わるい：気色 悪い）”.
