Korean Dictionary
How to say "Lunchbox" in Korean
“Lunchbox” in Korean is 도시락 (pronounced "Dosirak").
도시락
Dosirak
Usage & Context
A packed meal box for eating outside the home. Traditional dosirak contained rice with banchan. Today, convenience store dosirak is a beloved fast lunch option for Korean workers and students. The concept of sharing homemade dosirak is tied to care and affection.
Example Sentence
엄마가 도시락 싸줬어요. 오늘 학교 점심 해결됐네요!
Mom packed me a lunchbox. Lunch at school is sorted today!
How to use 도시락 naturally
Quick answer
The Korean word for “Lunchbox” is 도시락, romanized as Dosirak.
Usage tip
Learn this word together with a complete Korean sentence. Meaning often depends on particles, politeness level, and word order.
Common mistake
Do not rely only on the English meaning. Read the Korean example sentence and notice the particles, word order, and politeness level around 도시락.
Pronunciation Guide
Pronounced 'doh-shee-rahk' — 'doh' rhymes with 'dough,' 'shee' rhymes with 'she,' and 'rahk' rhymes with 'rock.' Three even syllables; the final 'k' is a soft unreleased stop.
More Example Sentences
a coworker talking about lunch options
편의점 도시락이 요즘 진짜 퀄리티 좋아졌어요.
Convenience store lunchboxes have gotten really high-quality lately.
reminiscing about elementary school
소풍 가는 날 엄마가 김밥 도시락 싸주셨어요.
On the day of the field trip, my mom packed me a kimbap lunchbox.
discussing retro Korean foods
추억의 양철 도시락 흔들어 먹어본 적 있어요?
Have you ever tried shaking up a nostalgic tin lunchbox to mix it?
Cultural Context
도시락 spans three eras in Korean memory. The nostalgic version is the 양철 도시락 — a tin box crammed with rice, kimchi, a fried egg, and stir-fried sausages, which students in the 70s-80s would shake up into 도시락 볶음밥. Today's version is dominated by 편의점 도시락 (convenience store lunchboxes) from GS25, CU, and 7-Eleven — a huge industry with celebrity-endorsed 백종원 도시락 and 혜자 도시락 (the Kim Hye-ja lunchbox, slang for 'great value'). A homemade 도시락 from a partner or mom still carries deep emotional weight — it shows up constantly in K-dramas as a love-language moment.
Editorial note
We review entries like 도시락 for pronunciation, example sentence fit, and learner mistakes so the page answers more than a direct dictionary lookup.
Reviewed by Min-jung Park, Korean Language Teacher. Updated May 31, 2026. See our editorial standards.
Common Phrases
도시락 싸왔어요.
I brought a packed lunch.
점심 도시락 뭐야?
What's in your lunchbox today?
편의점 도시락 하나 살게요.
I'll grab a convenience store lunchbox.
Related Expressions
편의점 도시락
pyeonuijeom dosirak
convenience store lunchbox
김밥
gimbap
seaweed rice roll (classic dosirak filler)
혜자 도시락
hyeja dosirak
slang for a great-value lunchbox (from actress Kim Hye-ja)
반찬
banchan
side dishes (what fills a dosirak)
More Food Words
Master Korean with AI-Powered Learning
Practice Lunchbox and 10,000+ words with native pronunciation and AI conversation.
