What are some Japanese insults and swear-words?

You may feel that it is worth learning some insulting words in Japanese, but the reality is that most people don't need to learn them.

In Japanese, not using polite language may be considered insulting enough by itself. See What is Japanese respect language?

Anyway, here is a list.

Japanese (kana) Japanese (romaji) English translation
Swearing and general insults
くたばれ! kutabare! Go to hell! Literally means "Drop dead!", from kutabaru (くたばる), die, kick the bucket, etc.
しんじまえ shinjimae Drop dead, go to hell. From shinu plus shimau. See What are the , verb endings?
くそくらえ! kuso kurae! Eat shit!
くそったれ kusottare Literally "shit drip"
きさま kisama Rude word for "you" (see also What are the personal pronouns of Japanese?)
どけ! doke! Get out of the way!
こいつ、あいつ koitsu, aitsu A contemptuous expression for a third party. Either extremely rude, or very familiar. Also a rough way of saying "this" or "that". From koyatsu (こやつ), ayatsu (あやつ).
手前 temae A rough way of saying "you". See also What are the personal pronouns of Japanese? Often changed to temee. See What are and ?
このやろう Kono yarou "You shit", "You blighter" etc. General expression of anger, usually directed to men.
やつ (奴) yatsu Unpleasant person, disliked person
やつめ yatsume
ちくしょう chikushō Oh shit! Oh blast! Oh hell!
Shut up!
Shut up!
最低 saitei Worst possible, rotten, disgusting
いい加減にしろ ii kagen ni shiro Stop messing around
ふざけるな fuzakeru na Stop being stupid
me Added as a suffix to other words to make them more contemptuous. See this note.
あほ aho Fool! Idiot! Moron!
ばか (馬鹿) baka Idiot! Fool!
ばかやろう (馬鹿野郎) bakayarō Idiot! Fool!
まぬけ manuke Clueless, loser (literally "out of rhythm" or "missing a beat")
のろま noroma Twit, dunce, slowpoke
へたくそ hetakuso Clumsy/lacking skill
どじ doji Clumsy or clueless
ぼけ boke Clueless, dumb, stupid, unaware. See What does mean?
とろい toroi Slow to catch on, doesn't "get it".
Body and sex
ぶす busu Ugly woman, "dog"
でぶ debu Fatso, fattie
へんたい (変態) hentai Perverted, pervert
スケベ sukebe Lech/lecher
いやらしい iyarashii disgusting, lewd, indecent
やりまん yariman Slut
屁こき hekoki Farter
くそがき kusogaki Unpleasant child/bad-mannered child
わるがき warugaki Brat, bad child
くそじじい kusojijii Old fart/Unpleasant old man
くそばばあ kusobabaa Old fart/Unpleasant old woman
ちび chibi Shorty, runt, undersized person
くちきたない kuchikitanai Talks unpleasantly, negative, bitchy
けち kechi Stingy, mean
ずるい zurui Unfair, selfish, conniving
ださい dasai Unfashionable, lame, not cool
くそまじめ kusomajime Over-serious, swot, goody-two-shoes
オタク otaku Creep, obsessive, nerd. See also What is an ?
意地悪 ijiwaru Malicious, spiteful, bitchy
やぼ(な) yabo (na) Boorish, uncouth
弱虫 yowamushi Wimp, coward
腰抜け koshinuke Coward
嘘つき uso tsuki Liar
きもい kimoi Creepy (see also What are these adjectives and which aren't in the dictionary?)

Suffixes like me () or yarō (野郎) may also be added to emphasize, like koshinuke yarō (腰抜ケ野郎) "cowardly git" or hentaime (変態奴) "pervo".

See also What is the verb ending? for an insulting verb ending, and What are and ? for other rough talk.

For books, see also

for more offensive language.

External links

Copyright © 1994-2016 Ben Bullock

