コミュ障(しょう)

Etymology: Abbreviation of コミュニケーション障害(しょうがい) (communication disorder). The clinical term has been adopted as casual slang with a much broader, less clinical meaning.

Register: Casual/Slang
Primarily used among young people. Often used self-deprecatingly. The clinical origin means this term should be used carefully, as it can be insensitive to people with actual communication disorders.

Usage

• Very commonly used for self-description
• Can be seen as insensitive when used to describe others
• Often appears in discussions about social anxiety or introversion
• Sometimes written as コミュしょう with hiragana

Common collocations

• コミュ障(しょう)気味(ぎみ) (somewhat socially awkward)
• 重度(じゅうど)のコミュ障(しょう) (severely socially awkward - humorous)
• コミュ障(しょう)を克服(こくふく)する (to overcome social awkwardness)

Related words

• 人見知(ひとみし)り: shy around strangers (more neutral)
• 内向的(ないこうてき): introverted (formal, clinical)
• コミュ力(りょく): communication skills (abbreviated)