프사 (peusa) — Profile picture.
Lesson 97 in our Korean Slang series, adapted from Korean Your Teacher Doesn’t Teach You by Injin Hwang. This expression appears in the book’s shortened expressions section.
What 프사 means
프사, short for 프로필 사진, is the small image associated with an account in a chat or social app. The situation and tone help determine how natural the expression sounds.
A short conversation
A: 프사 바꿨네!
B: 지난주 여행 사진이야.
A: New profile picture!
B: It is a photo from last week’s trip.
Use it with care
It may show a person, pet, landscape, or design rather than the account owner. Respect privacy when commenting on someone’s image.
A neutral or polite alternative: 프로필 사진을 바꿨어요. — I changed my profile picture.
Try it yourself
Must a 프사 show the person’s face?
Answer: No. It can be any chosen profile image. Read the Korean exchange aloud, then replace one detail with something from your own life.
Learn the rest of the series in Basic Korean Grammar. Find more expressions in the Korean slang book on Amazon.
