Skip to main content
adj. Very stupid or foolish.
Pronounced "on gau" (The 9 is pronounced in Cantonese)

Cantonese slang used mainly by young Hong Kong Chinese. First originated on the Internet (isn't everything) but soon spread to everyday speech.

Originates from two words:
The first part "on" comes from "On ghuy" - a cantonese slang word meaning foolish.
The second part "9" comes from "gau" - a cantonese slang word meaning penis.

Also used as part of the phrase "on9 zai" meaning foolish man/boy.
Dude 1: Wow, that silly mainlander squatting on the pavement looks so damn on9.

Dude 2: Shut up, you on9 zai.
on9 by The loch monster August 9, 2006
Related Words
on9 on99 On9lization On9 jai on9 Sor Hai on9j on9siu 9 on 9 Keep on 9
on9 (憨鳩) is a Cantonese swear word which means foolish, stupid and brainless.
It is pronounced as 'on' + 'gau'. ('gau' is the Cantonese pronunciation of '9')
It is a friendly swear word to laugh, scold or discriminate other ppl.

on99 (憨鳩鳩): very foolish
on9 zai (憨鳩仔): a foolish guy
on lun 7 9 (憨撚柒鳩): extremely stupid, mostly used to scold others when angry
on gui (憨居): a less violent way to say on9
Person 1: The guy steps on a piece of shit and slips.
Person 2: HAHA, he is really on9.
on9 by ccthz November 21, 2021
A slang from Hong Kong which means extremely stupid and dumb
e.g. Ricegum is so on9 that everybody make fun of him
On9 by Nejshhd July 7, 2021
Mostly used in Hong Kong
Cantonese slang word
Spelling in english: On gau/gao
9 is pronounced "gau" in Cantonese
Which also means penis or dick
It means foolish, stupid, dumb, especially when describing someone's actions or speech even appearance but not specifically about the target's intelligence.
This word is commonly used among youngsters, as it is mildly offensive yet usually in a funny way. Still it can be aggressive and provoking sometimes if the tone is not friendly or used in a swearing sentence.
In numerous cases, it is transformed into on99 or on-lun-9. The meanings are basically the same.
Hong Kong:
Cayden just said a lame joke to flirt girls, he didn't realize it was really cringy and on9.
Look! Ken just did his hair bald and it definitely doesn't suit him, it looks so on9 lol.
Matthew is very on9, he always slap his classmates' asses just to irritate them for no good reason at all! Then he escapes and laughs in a cheeky way, I genuinely don't understand his kind of humour.
US:
Memes are so on9 yet entertaining at the same time!
Filthy Frank is the most on9 youtuber I've ever seen.
UK:
Undoubtly, Mr. Bean is the on9 representative of cartoons.
On9 by BeforeChrist March 12, 2019