월요병 (woryobyeong) — the Monday blues.
Lesson 30 in our Korean Slang series, adapted from Korean Your Teacher Doesn’t Teach You by Injin Hwang.
What 월요병 means
월요 means Monday and 병 means illness. 월요병 humorously describes the reluctance or tiredness some people feel when a work or study week begins. It is not a clinical diagnosis.
A short conversation
A: 오늘 왜 이렇게 피곤해 보여?
B: 월요병인가 봐. 주말이 너무 빨리 끝났어.
A: Why do you look so tired today?
B: I think I have the Monday blues. The weekend ended too quickly.
How to understand it
Start with the context in the dialogue. The speaker uses 월요병 to mean “the Monday blues.” A word-for-word reading can miss the tone. Compare the Korean lines with the natural English translation, and notice which part of the situation makes the meaning clear.
Use it with care
Use it for ordinary Monday fatigue. Do not use the joke to dismiss a serious health concern.
A more neutral or polite alternative:
월요일이라 시작하기가 조금 힘들어요.
It is Monday, so getting started feels a little hard.
Try it yourself
Is 월요병 a formal medical term?
Show the answer
No. It is an everyday expression for the Monday blues.
Read the conversation aloud, then try the neutral alternative. Think about which one fits a friend and which one fits a polite conversation.
Based on the author’s slang collection, with additional learning notes. AI-generated illustration created for this lesson.
