“You got the highest score in the examination of Bahasa Indonesia ? Wow, it’s awesome!”
Awesome sounds familiar in daily conversation and it is commonly used to compliment about many things, such as the people, a place, a story, and anything else. It is an adjective as similar as admirable, amazing, and spectacular.
In Bahasa Indonesia as the official Indonesian Language or the formal way, the meaning of awesome is as simply as “Mengagumkan” (The vowel is like Ma-nga-goom-kun). To use “Mengagumkan” is also so easy, for example :
- I want to tell you an awesome story -> Saya ingin mengatakan padamu suatu cerita yang mengaggumkan
- Labuan Bajo is another awesome place in Indonesia, besides Bali -> Labuan Bajo adalah tempat mengaggumkan di Indonesia, selain Bali
Besides “Mengagumkan”, the meaning of awesome in formal way can be :
- “Dahsyat” (The vowel is Duh-syut). She won the debate competition. Awesome! -> Dia memenangkan kompetisi debat. Dahsyat!
- “Menakjubkan” (The vowel is Ma-nuk-joob-kun). In his latest movie, his acting was awesome -> Pada film terakhirnya, penampilannya menakjubkan.
In Bahasa Indonesia, awesome is similar to extraordinary that means “Luar Biasa”. The sample of using it is, your mother is awesome -> Ibumu luar biasa.
However, in daily conversation, especially in the peer group, or in TV shows, movies, and so on, many slang words are used to express the compliment like using awesome in informal way. The slang words might make you confused as they couldn’t be found on dictionary. So, here they are some slang Indonesian words that are similar to awesome :
- “Mantap” (Read : Mun-tupp). “Mantap” is quitely similar to awesome, but practically it seems to compliment and convey about something super-awesome. Something beyond our imagination and it is used to be followed by “banget” if something is xoxo or really awesome. Saying “Mantap Banget!” sometimes accompanied with a thumbs-up gesture. Here’s also List of Indonesian Slang Words and How to Say it
To make it clear for you, here the example of how to say “Awesome” in Indonesian Language :
Your room is so cozy. Really awesome!! -> Kamarmu sangat nyaman. Mantap banget!
- “Keren” (Read : Ka-ran). “Keren” may be similar either to awesome or cool. Mostly, it is used to describe rather the people than the thing. For example :
Your boyfriend is an awesome police -> Kekasihmu adalah seorang polisi yang keren.
- “Gokil” (Read : Go-keel). The use of “Gokil” term is like “Keren” which is often referred to describe the awesome people.
For example :
How you can do it ? Awesome!! -> Bagaimana kamu bisa melakukannya ? Gokil !!
- “Ajib” (Read : Aa-Jeeb). Actually, “Ajib” doesn’t only means awesome, but also delicious. It depends on when you use it. If you want to compliment a person, scenery, or other things then you use “Ajib” to describe they are awesome. But, when you want to say that the food or someone’s cook taste good, then you can say “Ajib” as the taste is delicious or it means “Enak” in Bahasa Indonesia. To understand about it, here is the example :
What an awesome sight to behold! -> Pemandangannya ajib!
- “Kece” or “Ketje” (Read : ka-cai). Actually both words just have different spelling, but their meaning are alike. How to use “Kece” is same with “Keren”. For example :
Sakina is an awesome doctor -> Sakina adalah seorang dokter kece
By then, you may also want to learn more about:
The conclusion of this chapter is how to say awesome in Indonesian include two ways—the formal way or the informal one. The table below is to make it easier to understand :
Formal Way[/th] [th]Informal way
Mengagumkan[/td] [td]Mantap
Menakjubkan[/td] [td]Keren
Luar Biasa[/td] [td]Gokil
[/td] [td]Ajib
[/td] [td]Kece
After all, the chapter about saying awesome in Indonesia Language seems a piece of cake. But, please keep in your mind how to say something or someone is awesome in formal way or not.
If you speak to elderly or have conversation or speech in either formal gathering or scientific meeting, you shall use the term in official Indonesian Language or the formal way. Unless you are not in that circumstances, you can speak with slang words, such as having informal conversation with your peer group.