ぴえん
Pien
ぴえん
An onomatopoeia mimicking a baby crying. Used to express sadness or frustration in a cute, not-too-serious way. Won the 2019 JC/JK (middle/high school girl) Trending Word Award. Spawned the escalation "ぴえん超えてぱおん" (pien koete paon = "beyond pien, it is paon") for when you are even more sad. ぱおん is the Japanese onomatopoeia for an elephant trumpeting — it does not have deep meaning, it just sounds good as a step beyond ぴえん. While it was a massive trend, by 2025 it feels a bit dated. Using it now comes across as either nostalgic or ironic.
Examples
推しの卒業発表、ぴえんすぎる
My oshi announced their graduation... I am so sad.
Expressing emotions on social media
明日テストなのに何も勉強してない。ぴえん
I have a test tomorrow and I have not studied at all. Pien.
LINE message to a friend
ぴえん超えてぱおん超えてぴえんヶ丘どすこい之助
Beyond pien, beyond paon, all the way to Pien-ga-oka Dosukoi-no-suke. (An absurd escalation meme)
財布落としたぴえん
Dropped my wallet. Pien.