What does “최애” mean in Korean?

최애 is fandom slang for your number-one favorite — your “ultimate bias.” It’s Sino-Korean 최 (最, most/top) + 애 (愛, love), so it literally reads as “most-loved.” K-pop and idol fandom popularized it to crown the one member they love above all others, and it has spread far beyond music: you’ll see it for a favorite actor, comedian, food, or even a fictional character. If something is your 최애, nothing else comes close.

The word mirrors the idol-fan culture also behind Japanese 推し (oshi), “the one you push/support.” Its natural partner is 차애 (cha-ae), “second favorite,” for when you have to rank a runner-up. Here a flustered comedy fan is put on the spot to name a single 최애 between two performers and can’t choose — “둘 중에 누굴 최애로 골라야 될지 너무 고민이에요” (“I can’t decide which of the two to pick as my 최애”). That agony of choosing one bias is exactly the situation the word was made for.