学霸

xué bà

Academic overachiever / study god — someone who excels at studying and always gets top grades.

Origin

Combines 学 (study) with 霸 (tyrant/dominator). The opposite is 学渣 (xuézhā, academic failure).

Examples

She's such a 学霸, always getting perfect scores.

学霸的世界我们不懂。(We can't understand the world of academic overachievers.)

Related terms

Chinamaxxing

An internet trend (mostly Gen Z in the West), also called 'Becoming Chinese,' of deliberately adopting everyday Chinese lifestyle habits — hot water, hotpot, indoor slippers, skincare — framed as life upgrades and played for tongue-in-cheek humor.

i人/e人

i rén / e rén

Introvert/Extrovert — referencing MBTI personality types, used casually to describe social preferences.

双减

shuāng jiǎn

Double reduction — the government policy reducing homework burden and after-school tutoring for students.

颜值

yán zhí

Attractiveness score / face value — a numerical rating of someone's physical appearance.