1.
adolescent delusions of grandeur, chuunibyou syndrome
A colloquial term for the tendency of early teenagers (around second year of middle school, age 13-14) to act as if they have special powers, secret knowledge, or a dark and mysterious persona. Used humorously and self-deprecatingly.
あの子は中二病だ。
That kid has chuunibyou syndrome.
中学生の頃、中二病をこじらせていた。
When I was in middle school, I had a bad case of chuunibyou.
黒い服ばかり着て「闇の力」とか言ってたのは、まさに中二病だった。
Always wearing black and talking about 'the power of darkness' — that was peak chuunibyou.
中二病 literally means "second-year-of-middle-school disease." It was coined by radio personality 伊集院光 in the late 1990s.
Typical symptoms include:
- Pretending to have supernatural powers or a hidden identity
- Adopting a dark, edgy persona
- Using grandiose or foreign-sounding phrases
- Rejecting mainstream things as "for ordinary people"
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 中二病をこじらせる (have a severe case of chuunibyou)
- 中二病全開 (full-on chuunibyou)
- 黒歴史 (dark history — embarrassing past behavior, often related to chuunibyou)
The term has become widely known through anime and internet culture, and most adults look back on their own 中二病 phase with embarrassment.