What is "kiasi"

n. (context Singapore colloquial derogatory English) A coward.

Kiasi is a Hokkien phrase, literally means afraid of death, to describe the attitude of being overly afraid or timid. Kiasi is commonly compared to Kiasu (literally, fear of losing) and both are commonly used to describe behaviour where Kiasi or Kiasi-ism means to take extreme means to avoid risk and Kiasu or Kiasu-ism means to take extreme means to achieve success. Kiasi is not as popular as kiasu, but is widely used by Hokkien-speaking people in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.