Karen

Meanings

Proper Noun

• A female given name from Ancient Greek.
• One of the seven great Parthian feudal families.
• A group of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken by people of the Karen ethnic group, also called Karenic.

Noun

• A middle-aged white woman exhibiting a sense of entitlement or white privilege.
• Any person, especially female, exhibiting an exaggerated sense of entitlement.
• A member of a diverse ethnic group originating in Myanmar and Thailand.

Related

Similar words

• Karen-Pahlav, Karen-Pahlaw

Origin

• From Danish Karen, a vernacular form of Catherine that arose in medieval Denmark. The sense "middle-aged woman" comes from the popularity of the name among baby boomers and Gen-Xers. The derogatory usage was popularized in African-American Vernacular English via social media.
• From Parthian 𐭊𐭓𐭍𐭉, from . The Armenian name is from Armenian Կարեն, from the same Parthian name.
• From Burmese ကရင်, of disputed origin