เด็กเส้น

Explanation

The word combines เด็ก, meaning “child” or “young person,” with เส้น, used here to mean influential connections. Despite the first element, it also applies to adults. It suggests that someone's connections give them an advantage in hiring, selection, or treatment. The tone is often critical or sarcastic, though friends may use it jokingly, and people sometimes use it about themselves. It does not necessarily mean the person lacks ability. Use เป็นเด็กเส้น to describe someone this way. The classifier for counting people is คน.

Usage

Common contexts include hiring, promotions, school admissions, and selection within organizations. People use it in workplace conversations or social media criticism when they suspect someone receives advantages because of ties to influential people.

Caution

Calling someone เด็กเส้น to their face can sound dismissive of their achievements. Avoid it in formal introductions. Wealth or a wide social circle alone does not make someone เด็กเส้น.

1 beneficiary of favoritism through connections synonyms

• เด็กฝาก

  dèkfàak person admitted or hired through connections

  เด็กฝาก refers to someone a person has asked an organization to take on or look after, often by using their influence. เด็กเส้น focuses more broadly on the advantages someone gains through influential connections.