hipon
/ˈhipon/
To say shrimp in Tagalog, the main language of the Philippines, use hipon.
hipon means shrimp both as an animal and as food.
Meaning: flesh of the crustacean (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
Tagalog nouns do not change for plural. Plural is shown by a separate small word before the noun.
How do you pronounce it?
The IPA is /ˈhipon/, with the stress on the first syllable and an h like the h in hot.
When do people say it?
Shrimp is common in Filipino cooking, for example in sour soups and in fermented shrimp paste.
Did you know?
- In Filipino slang, calling someone a hipon is a backhanded compliment meaning they have a beautiful body but an unattractive face. This is because people often eat the body of the shrimp and discard the head as undesirable.
- The Tagalog word hipon shares a linguistic ancestor with the word tipun used for 'shrimp' in Central Dusun, a language from Borneo.
- The Spanish word gamba for 'shrimp' is used in a similar slang way to hipon to describe someone with a beautiful body but an unattractive face.
Examples in context
- Hinimay ni Tom ang hipon.Tom shelled the shrimp.ang hipon means "the shrimp".Tatoeba #11654305 by qwertzu, translation #1164214 by CK
- Gusto mo pa rin ba ng hipon?Do you still like shrimp?ng hipon shows hipon as the object of liking.Tatoeba #10170570 by theSardonyx, translation #7114612 by CK
- Masarap ang nilutong hipon.The cooked shrimp is delicious.
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Maria and Mark are eating dinner at home.
- MariaGusto mo ba ng hipon?Do you want some shrimp?
- MarkOo, maraming hipon dito.Yes, there is a lot of shrimp here.
- MariaKumuha ka pa ng isa.Take one more.
- MarkSalamat, Maria.Thanks, Maria.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry hipon, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries hipon, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
