also: ぽいすて
noun
littering; carelessly tossing away
Refers to casually throwing away small trash like cigarette butts, cans, or wrappers in public places. Often used in signs and campaigns.
公園でのポイ捨てはやめましょう。
Let's stop littering in the park.
タバコのポイ捨てに罰金が科せられる。
A fine is imposed for carelessly tossing away cigarette butts.
Standard katakana-kanji spelling; the katakana part mimics the sound of tossing something away.
Hiragana variant of the same mimetic element; less common but still seen.
Compound of the mimetic word ポイ (poi), representing the sound or motion of casually tossing something, and 捨て (sute, 'throwing away'). The exact origin is uncertain, but it likely emerged in modern Japanese to describe littering behavior.