上あがり症しょう

あ

が

り

しょ

う

Meanings

stage fright; social anxiety disorder; social phobia

Refers to a tendency to get extremely nervous in front of others, such as when giving a speech or performing. Often used in casual self-description.

彼かれはあがり症しょうで、人ひと前まえで話はなすのが苦にが手てだ。
He has stage fright and is not good at speaking in public.
あがり症しょうを克こく服ふくするために、プレゼンの練れん習しゅうをしている。
I'm practicing presentations to overcome my social anxiety.

See all 4 example sentences ›

Kanji

症symptoms, illness
上above, up
性sex, gender, nature

Related words

緊きん張ちょう
緊張 is general nervousness or tension, while あがり症 specifically refers to a chronic condition of freezing up or panicking in social performance situations.
対たい人じん恐きょう怖ふ症しょう
対人恐怖症 is a clinical term for social anxiety disorder (taijin kyofusho), whereas あがり症 is a more colloquial, less severe term often used for everyday stage fright.

Written forms

上あがり症しょう
Standard kanji spelling using 症 for 'condition/syndrome'.
あがり症しょう
Common variant with the first part in kana.
上あがり性しょう
Variant using 性; less common and may be considered a misspelling by some.
あがり性しょう
Rare kana-kanji mix; not a standard spelling.

Etymology

Compound of 上がり (あがり, 'rising' or 'getting nervous', from 上がる) and 症 (しょう, 'condition/syndrome'). The exact origin is uncertain, but it likely emerged in colloquial Japanese to describe a common social anxiety.