완전 (wanjeon) — Totally; absolutely; really.
This is lesson 8 in our Korean Slang series, adapted from Korean Your Teacher Doesn’t Teach You by Injin Hwang. The explanations below focus on understanding casual Korean and choosing an appropriate situation.
What 완전 means
완전 is used in everyday conversation to intensify a description. It adds emphasis to how strongly someone feels about an experience.
A short conversation
A: 여행 어땠어?
B: 완전 좋았어.
A: How was your trip?
B: It was absolutely great.
How to understand the expression
Notice the position: 완전 comes before 좋았어. Begin with a simple description and then add the intensifier. The sentence already contains the past meaning in 좋았어, so 완전 does not create the tense. This distinction helps you avoid trying to translate English word order one word at a time.
Use it with care
This is an ordinary Korean word used as a conversational intensifier, not a new abbreviation. A neutral choice is 정말 or 아주.
A more neutral or polite alternative: 여행이 정말 좋았어요.
The trip was really good.
Try it yourself
Is 완전 in 완전 좋았어 the name of a special kind of trip?
Show the answer
No. It strengthens 좋았어: the trip was very enjoyable.
Read both parts of the dialogue aloud. Then imagine a different situation and decide whether this reaction would sound friendly, exaggerated or unsuitable. Focus on the relationship between the speakers, not only the dictionary meaning.
Based on the author’s slang collection, with additional learning notes for this website. Illustration created with AI for this lesson.
