The skill of reading a room and sensing what is unsaid.
Having 눈치 means picking up on mood and subtext fast. "눈치가 없다" — having no nunchi — is a real criticism, meaning someone is oblivious and keeps saying the wrong thing. It is considered a core social competence in Korea.
Literally "eye measure" — measuring a situation with your eyes.
English has no single word for this. "Tact" and "social awareness" both fall short.
Reading a definition isn't the same as saying it to someone. Lingo Kaiava is a voice tutor set to Korean — it uses 눈치 the way locals do, corrects you in the moment, and never "fixes" the way real people actually talk into textbook Korean.
Free to start. No signup for your first conversation.