やばい · YABAI  ·  可愛い · KAWAII  ·  仲間 · NAKAMA  ·  侘び寂び · WABI-SABI  ·  生き甲斐 · IKIGAI  ·  木漏れ日 · KOMOREBI  ·  頑張る · GANBARU  ·  乙女 · OTOME  ·  刹那 · SETSUNA  ·    やばい · YABAI  ·  可愛い · KAWAII  ·  仲間 · NAKAMA  ·  侘び寂び · WABI-SABI  ·  生き甲斐 · IKIGAI  ·  木漏れ日 · KOMOREBI  ·  頑張る · GANBARU  ·  乙女 · OTOME  ·  刹那 · SETSUNA  · 
Japanese Dictionary for English Speakers

Every Word Has a Story.

Discover Japanese through anime, manga, and real culture. Not just definitions — context, nuance, and the why behind every word.

1315+
WORDS & PHRASES
N5 – N1
ALL JLPT LEVELS
Free
ALWAYS
Word of the Day · 今日の単語
悪役
AKUYAKU · あくやく
villain — an evil or wicked character in a story
JLPT N3 Everyday Japanese
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語
JLPT Vocabulary
N5 to N1 — essential words for the official Japanese proficiency test.
334 words →
日
Everyday Japanese
Words for daily life, food, and the rhythms of Japanese culture.
951 words →
俗
Pop Culture & Slang
Words from anime, manga, social media, and modern youth culture.
197 words →
侘
Untranslatable & Unique
Concepts with no English equivalent — names, kanji, and loanwords.
223 words →
Study by Level

Study by JLPT Level

JLPT is Japan's official Japanese proficiency test — N5 is the entry level, N1 is near-native.

Beginner
N5
800 words
Start here
Elementary
N4
1,500 words
Building up
Intermediate
N3
3,750 words
Getting there
Upper-Int
N2
6,000 words
Advanced level
Advanced
N1
10,000 words
Near-native
Recently Added

Latest Words

to eat
Japanese Verb Conjugation
to do
Japanese Verb Conjugation
to drink
Japanese Verb Conjugation
to see / to watch
Japanese Verb Conjugation
to come
Japanese Verb Conjugation
to buy
Japanese Verb Conjugation
to write
Japanese Verb Conjugation
to go
Japanese Verb Conjugation
to run
Japanese Verb Conjugation
to wait
Japanese Verb Conjugation
mitsukeru
to find; to discover
N4
miseru
to show; to display
N5
Why NihongoWords is Different
Words without context
are just noise.
Every entry includes cultural context, usage examples, and the nuances that textbooks leave out. Because understanding a language means understanding its people.