Alay Meaning in the Indonesian Language

Halo semuanya, apa kabar? Ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. This time, I'm going to talk about a slang word in Bahasa Indonesia, that is [alay]. As usual, we are also going to be watching examples from movies, YouTube videos, and others where the word [alay] is used by Indonesians.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly. You can see how to do that on my About Me page. 

If you are a beginner in the Indonesian language, you can learn step by step with My Lesson Here.

So, let's dive in!

Meaning of Alay

Alay refers to someone or something that is tacky or cheesy. If you see something that is tacky, you can say this word, or if you see a person who does not have good taste, you can say he is an [alay].

Example sentences:

1. Baju loe alay banget sih? (Don’t you realize that your shirt is so tacky?)
2. Dia mah emang alay. Lihat aja kelakuannya kaya gitu. (He is really tacky. You can see from his behavior, doing things like that!)
3. Eh, anak alay! Loe mau ke mana? (Hey, dork! Where are you going?)

This word [alay] is a slang word, so I recommend you not to use this word in a formal setting.

How to Pronounce Alay

Here is how you pronounce [alay] in bahasa Indonesia.

Next, let's watch examples where Indonesians use the word [alay].

Examples of Alay In Use

The first clip is taken from a movie called Mimpi Metropolitan (2019). Let's look at the clip below. 

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The conversation in the scene with English translation is as follows.

Mami: Pokoknya ya, selama loe bertiga belum bisa ngegantiin tas gue, kapan pun gue butuh ekstras, loe bertiga harus standby. (The thing is, until you guys are able replace my bag, whenever I need extras for a movie, you guys need to be ready.) 

Alan: Alamak Mami. Jangan begitulah Mam. Besok-besok aku tak maulah ikut syuting kaya gini. Yang syuting macem kaya gini cuma alay. (Mami, please don't be like that. Next time, I don't want to be an extra for a movie like this. Anybody who does this kind of thing is just a dork.) 

Prima: Sembarangan loe! Jualan DVD bajakan itu yang alay! (Hey, watch your mouth, bro! Selling piracy DVDs, that is downright tacky!) 

Alan: Ah kau kaya ngga alay aja kau. (So you think you're not a dork?) 

Prima: Apaan sih loe? (What do you mean by saying things like that?) 

Alan: Apa kau? (You wanna fight?) 

Bambang: Udah! Alay junior sama alay senior, ngga boleh ribut. Yang akur. (Hey, calm down! Dork junior and dork senior, no fighting. You guys need to get along with each other.) 

Prima and Alan: Siapa yang alay? (Who is the dork one?) 

Bambang: Ya, Mami. (Mami is the dork one.) 

Mami: Apa loe bilang? (What did you just say?) 

Bambang: Ya udah, saya yang alay. (Okay, okay. I'm the dork one.)

In this scene, the three guys become extras for a movie. But somehow, they accidentally broke Mami's bag. Mami is the one who is responsible for the movie, so Mami was very angry when she knew that her bag was broken by them. As a result, whenever she needs extras for a movie, they need to be ready.

So, [alay] can be a noun and also can be an adjective. Next, I will give you three example sentences using this word [alay].

Vocabulary From the Clip

[Pokoknya] = [intinya] = the thing is.

[Selama] = as long as, until.

[Loe] is informal for [Anda] = you. For more about this, you can read my article here: Loe In Indonesian.

[Gue] is informal for [saya] = I. For more about this, you can read my article here: Gue In Indonesian.

[Ngegantiin] is the colloquial way of saying [menggantikan] = to replace (something or someone).

[Kapan pun] = whenever.

[Bertiga] means the three of you.

[Alamak] is just an expression, and it has no meaning. It's like, Oh my God.

[Kau] = you.

[Besok] = tomorrow.

[Besok-besok] = next time.

[Apaan sih] in [apaan sih loe?] is used like saying, "What the hell, man!" For more about this, you can read my article here: Apaan Sih In Indonesian.

     Read also: Bokap Meaning In the Indonesian Language

So, I think that's all for now. If you have any questions, you can comment in the comment section below, and I'll be happy to answer your questions.

That's all for now. I'll talk to you soon, and bye-bye now.