노안 (noan)

Someone picks up the menu at a restaurant and suddenly stretches an arm all the way out. They hold the menu far from their face and squint a little. Then the friend across the table grins and tosses out a line: “너 노안 왔구나? (neo noan watguna?)” — “So your 노안 has arrived, huh?” 노안 (noan) means ‘eyesight getting worse with age, or eyes in that condition.’ In Korean restaurants, at pharmacy counters, at office desks — behind a scene that repeats several times a day, there is this word.

What matters here is which direction the eyesight goes. 노안 is not about failing to see things far away; it is about failing to see things up close. The tiny type on a phone screen, the dosage printed on a medicine packet, the cooking time on the back of a ramyeon bag, the small clause at the bottom of a contract — the letters right under your nose blur, and when you stretch your arm out and move them away, they miraculously sharpen again. That is why Koreans joke that 노안 means 팔이 짧아졌다 (pari jjalbajyeotda), ‘my arms got shorter.’ The menu didn’t shrink — your arms did.

Let’s pin down the nuance, too. 노안 is a medical term and, at the very same time, a thoroughly everyday word. And it almost always comes attached to the verb 오다 (oda, to come). 노안이 오다 (noan-i oda) — just like 감기가 오다 (gamgiga oda, a cold comes) or 잠이 오다 (jami oda, sleep comes), 오다 is the verb Koreans use for things that show up on their own two feet without being invited. That single collocation holds the entire Korean attitude toward 노안: a guest you cannot block, who arrives without warning, and who — once here — you simply have to accept. So when you say “나 노안 왔어 (na noan wasseo)” about yourself, it lands as self-deprecating humor; but when someone else says “노안 오셨네요 (noan osyeonneyo)” to you, it suddenly becomes rude. Same word — but who says it flips the temperature completely.

Checking it in the National Institute of Korean Language dictionary

노안 (noan) 「Noun」 나이가 들어서 시력이 나빠짐. 또는 그런 눈. [en] farsightedness due to old age; presbyopia — Having weakened eyesight in one’s old age, or the weakened eyesight itself. [ja] ろうがん【老眼】。ろうし【老視】 — 年をとって視力が悪くなること。また、その目。 [es] presbicia — Dificultad para la visión cercana a causa de la vejez, o visión en tal condición. [zh] 老花眼 — 上年纪后视力变坏；或那样的眼睛。 — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

The dictionary carries no Portuguese translation. For reference, here is the editor’s own rendering — presbiopia: perda gradual da capacidade de enxergar de perto por causa da idade; ou os olhos nessa condição. (Our own translation, not dictionary text.)

Line those five definitions up side by side and a shared feature appears. All five languages tie age and eyesight together inside one sentence. In other words, 노안 is not simply ‘bad eyes’ — it is a word that carries the cause with it: eyes that got worse because of age. That point shows up directly in the example sentences below.

노안이 왔는지 글자가 가물대서 잘 보이지 않는다. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

noan-i wanneunji geuljaga gamuldaeseo jal boiji anneunda “Maybe my presbyopia has set in — the letters swim and I can’t see them well.”

This sentence paints the first moment of noticing 노안. 가물대다 (gamuldaeda) describes letters shimmering and wavering so your eyes can’t lock onto them. Pay attention to the -았는지 (-anneunji) in front of it, too. 노안이 왔는지 isn’t certainty — it’s a guess. You haven’t been to a doctor yet; you just suspect that the letters look odd today. 노안 begins with exactly this kind of careful guesswork.

돋보기 좀 쓸 수 있을까요? 노안이라 글씨가 잘 안 보여서요. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

dotbogi jom sseul su isseulkkayo? noan-ira geulssiga jal an boyeoseoyo “Could I use the reading glasses? I have presbyopia, so I can’t see the writing well.”

These are words genuinely exchanged at a bank window or a government office with paperwork spread out in front of you. 돋보기 (dotbogi) means reading glasses for 노안, or a handheld magnifying glass. The pattern to learn here is 노안이라 (noan-ira) — a shortened form of 노안이어서 (noan-ieoseo), which fits perfectly wherever you need to give a quick reason for a request. In Korea, attaching a small slice of a reason when you ask for something is considered good manners.

평소에 근시 안경을 끼던 사람이 노안이 되면 책이나 신문을 볼 때 안경을 벗어야 더 잘 보인다. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

pyeongso-e geunsi angyeong-eul kkideon sarami noan-i doemyeon chaegina sinmuneul bol ttae angyeong-eul beoseoya deo jal boinda “When a person who normally wears glasses for nearsightedness develops presbyopia, they see better by taking the glasses off to read a book or a newspaper.”

This example explains in a single sentence how 노안 differs from 근시 (geunsi, nearsightedness — eyes that see only near things well). That image of a bespectacled person pushing their glasses up onto their forehead to read — a gesture Korean dramas lean on constantly to signal a middle-aged character — runs on exactly the principle in this sentence.

노안은 질병이 아니라 정상적인 노화 과정의 하나로 겪게 되는 눈의 변화이다. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

noaneun jilbyeong-i anira jeongsangjeogin nohwa gwajeong-ui hanaro gyeokke doeneun nunui byeonhwaida “Presbyopia is not a disease but a change in the eyes that one experiences as part of the normal process of aging.”

This is written-style prose, the sort you’d meet in a health article or an eye clinic’s information sheet. The declaration ‘it is not a disease’ is the important part. 노안 isn’t an illness to be cured but a change that comes to everyone — which is why, in Korean, 노안 goes less naturally with 치료하다 (chiryohada, to treat) and more naturally with 왔다 (watda, it came) and 시작됐다 (sijakdwaetda, it started).

The dictionary also lists the word’s frequent partner expressions.

노안을 예방하다. / 노안이 심하다. / 노안이 시작되다. / 노안이 되다. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

Memorize all four as whole chunks and you won’t fumble when you build sentences. 예방하다 (yebanghada) — to prevent; 심하다 (simhada) — to be severe; 시작되다 (sijakdoeda) — to begin; 되다 (doeda) — to arrive at that state. Add the colloquial 노안이 오다 (noan-i oda) from earlier, and you have covered ninety percent of everything anyone says about 노안.

A real conversation

The scene: Friday evening at a neighborhood barbecue joint. They’ve just sat down and opened the menu.

Jun-kyung: 어? 이 집 메뉴판 글씨 왜 이렇게 작아졌지. Huh? Why did the letters on this menu get so small?

Emily: 야, 메뉴판이 작아진 게 아니라 네 팔이 짧아진 거지. 너 노안 온 거 아냐? Hey, the menu didn’t shrink — your arms got shorter. Isn’t your presbyopia kicking in?

Jun-kyung: 무슨 소리야. 나 아직 서른일곱이야. What are you talking about? I’m only thirty-seven.

Emily: 우리 아빠도 딱 그 나이에 시작됐대. 노안은 나이 안 봐주고 그냥 와. My dad’s started at exactly that age. Presbyopia doesn’t care about your age, it just comes.

Jun-kyung: …아니 진짜 안 보여. 야, 여기 뭐라고 적혀 있어? …Okay, I honestly can’t read it. Hey, what does it say here?

Emily: 돋보기 대신 에밀리. 삼겹살 이 인분에 된장찌개 하나. Emily instead of reading glasses. Two servings of pork belly and one soybean-paste stew.

Said this way, it sounds off

✗ (To your department head) 부장님, 서류 멀리 놓고 보시네요. 노안 오셨나 봐요. (bujangnim, seoryu meolli noko bosineyo. noan osyeonna bwayo.) — “Sir, I see you’re holding the documents far away. Your presbyopia must have arrived.” ✓ (To your department head) 부장님, 글씨가 좀 작죠? 제가 크게 뽑아 올까요? (bujangnim, geulssiga jom jakjyo? jega keuge ppoba olkkayo?) — “Sir, the print is a bit small, isn’t it? Shall I print you a bigger copy?” → The meaning is right and the grammar is right, but it puts you in the position of being the first to name an elder’s aging out loud. In Korea, the polite move with age-related changes is to pretend you haven’t noticed until the person brings it up themselves. Delete the word 노안 and shift the cause onto 글씨가 작다 (geulssiga jakda, the print is small), and the very same thoughtfulness gets through without any rudeness.

✗ (To a colleague your own age) 과장님, 노안이세요? 되게 성숙해 보이셔서요. (gwajangnim, noan-iseyo? doege seongsukhae boisyeoseoyo.) — “Manager, do you have a 노안 face? You look so mature.” ✓ (About yourself) 제가 좀 노안이라 스무 살 때부터 삼촌 소리 들었어요. (jega jom noan-ira seumu sal ttaebuteo samchon sori deureosseoyo.) — “I have kind of an old-looking face, so people have been calling me ‘uncle’ since I was twenty.” → In spoken Korean, 노안 is also used to mean that someone’s face looks older than their years, not just their eyes. But this face-related 노안 is used almost exclusively as self-mockery. Pin it on someone else and, however warmly you smile while saying it, it becomes “you look old” — never a compliment. If you want to praise the other person, use the opposite word, 동안 (dongan, a face that looks younger than one’s age).

Example sentences by situation

1. At your parents’ place, when your mother is holding the medicine packet at arm’s length

엄마, 그거 내가 읽어 줄게. 하루 세 번, 식후 삼십 분이래. eomma, geugeo naega ilgeo julge. haru se beon, siku samsip bunirae. Mom, let me read that for you. Three times a day, thirty minutes after meals.

This is the single most common thing Korean children do in front of a parent whose 노안 has arrived. The lesson here is that the word 노안 is deliberately never spoken aloud. Instead of checking, “엄마 노안 왔어? (eomma noan wasseo?)”, you just read it out for them. That silence is closer to what Korean-style consideration actually looks like.

2. Consulting the optician at a glasses shop

요즘 휴대폰 볼 때 눈이 침침한데, 노안이 시작된 걸까요? yojeum hyudaepon bol ttae nuni chimchimhande, noan-i sijakdoen geolkkayo? My eyes feel blurry when I look at my phone lately — could this be presbyopia starting?

This sentence uses the dictionary’s partner expression 노안이 시작되다 (noan-i sijakdoeda) exactly as listed. The -ㄹ까요? (-lkkayo?) at the end is a polite question form that hands the judgment over to the expert.

3. At work, laughing at yourself with a contract blown up on screen

요새 계약서를 200퍼센트로 키워서 봐요. 노안이 심해져서요. yosae gyeyakseoreul ibaek peosenteuro kiwoseo bwayo. noan-i simhaejyeoseoyo. These days I blow contracts up to 200% to read them. My presbyopia’s gotten worse.

This time it’s a conjugated form of 노안이 심하다 (noan-i simhada). Because you’re talking about yourself, saying it in polite speech isn’t the least bit impolite — in fact it works as a joke that loosens up the mood in the office. This ‘self-reporting’ is the safest and by far the most common use of the word 노안.

Polite and casual forms, and similar expressions

노안 is a noun, so it carries no honorific level of its own. Politeness is decided by the predicate that follows. 노안 왔어 (noan wasseo, casual) → 노안 왔어요 (noan wasseoyo, polite) → and if you’re speaking about someone else, you slot in the subject honorific -시- (-si-), as in 노안이 오셨나 봐요 (noan-i osyeonna bwayo). That said, as we saw above, this is a word to handle carefully the moment you aim it at another person — so the forms you’ll actually use most in real life are the talking-about-myself ones: 노안이라서요 (noan-iraseoyo) / 노안이 와서요 (noan-i waseoyo).

Expression	Temperature and strength	Where it belongs
노안 (noan)	Neutral statement of fact. Self-mockery about yourself, rudeness about someone else	Optician’s, clinic, health articles; jokes among peers
눈이 침침하다 (nuni chimchimhada)	Soft and indirect. Erases age entirely	Safe even in front of elders. States only the symptom, never the cause
돋보기 (dotbogi)	Name of an object, neutral	For talking around 노안 without naming it (“돋보기 좀 주세요 / dotbogi jom juseyo”)
시력이 떨어지다 (siryeogi tteoreojida)	Neutral, medical	Nothing to do with age. Works for a ten-year-old and an eighty-year-old alike
동안 (dongan)	Bright compliment	The antonym of face-related 노안. Safe even on a first meeting

The most practical cell in that table is 눈이 침침하다 (nuni chimchimhada). It’s the substitute Koreans actually reach for in situations where the word 노안 would feel heavy, and if a learner is going to memorize just one more expression, this is the one to take.

Cultural background — the age when your arms get shorter

노안 is a Sino-Korean word. 老 (늙을 로, ro — to grow old) joins 眼 (눈 안, an — eye) to make ‘old eyes.’ But Korean also has an identically pronounced 노안 (老顔). That one uses 顔 (face) instead of 眼 (eye), so it means ‘a face that looks aged.’ Which is why the single sentence “저 노안이에요 (jeo noan-ieyo)” can mean ‘I can’t see writing up close’ or ‘I look older than my age,’ depending on context. Telling them apart is simple. If 돋보기 (dotbogi, reading glasses), 글씨 (geulssi, writing), or 안경 (angyeong, glasses) show up alongside it, it’s the eye story; if words like 동안 (dongan), 삼촌 (samchon, uncle), or 아저씨 (ajeossi, middle-aged man) show up, it’s the face story.

In Korean society, 노안 is treated as a kind of marker for passing forty. It arrives later than gray hair, but it feels far more real. Gray hair you can simply dye; when 노안 comes, you have to go into your phone settings and bump the font size up a notch — and in that moment, you’re the first to know. That’s why, at a Korean company dinner, “나 이제 폰 글씨 키웠어 (na ije pon geulssi kiwosseo, I’ve bumped up my phone’s font size now)” reads as a confession of age. It’s a roundabout way of announcing your generation without ever stating a number.

In dramas, too, this word shows up as a gesture before it shows up as a line. A middle-aged father reading the newspaper with reading glasses perched on the tip of his nose, then pushing them up onto his forehead; a mother stretching her arm out straight to send a text message — Korean viewers read a character’s age and circumstances from those two shots alone. The subtitles say nothing, but the screen has already said ‘노안.’

Today’s quiz

Which of the following uses 노안 most naturally?

① 저는 초등학생 때부터 노안이라 교실 뒤에서는 칠판이 안 보였어요. (I’ve had 노안 since elementary school, so I couldn’t see the blackboard from the back of the classroom.) ② 작은 글씨가 흐려 보이기 시작했어요. 노안이 왔나 봐요. (Small print has started to look blurry. I think my 노안 has arrived.) ③ (처음 뵙는 사장님께) 사장님, 노안이시네요. 돋보기 하나 맞추셔야겠어요. (To a company president you’re meeting for the first time: Sir, you have 노안. You should get yourself a pair of reading glasses.)

Answer: ②

① describes 근시 (geunsi, nearsightedness), not 노안. 노안 is the state of not seeing things up close because of age, so it can’t be used for a young student who can’t see a distant blackboard. ③ is correct in both meaning and grammar, but wrong in setting. Pointing out the aging of an elder you’ve only just met is impolite; here you either say nothing at all, or shift the cause onto the object, as in “글씨가 작아서 불편하시죠? (geulssiga jagaseo bulpyeonhasijyo? — The print is small, isn’t it inconvenient?)” ② is someone describing their own condition as a guess, so the meaning, the form, and the setting are all natural. It has exactly the same structure as the dictionary example “노안이 왔는지 글자가 가물대서 잘 보이지 않는다.”

Definitions and example sentences are from the National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr); that portion of this post, including our translations, is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.