Emotions & Reactions

Japanese slang for expressing feelings, surprise, excitement, and frustration

はじめに

Japanese has an incredibly expressive vocabulary for emotions, and slang takes it to the next level. From the ever-versatile やばい to the dramatic マジ, these words are the heartbeat of casual Japanese conversation.

This chapter covers the most common slang for expressing how you feel — words you’ll hear constantly in anime, on social media, and in everyday Japanese life.

テーマ

この章のJapanese Slang一覧（80）

• やばい An extremely versatile exclamation meaning awesome, terrible, dangerous, or i...
• マジ An emphatic expression meaning 'seriously,' 'for real,' or 'no way,' used bot...
• ウケる An exclamation meaning 'that's hilarious' or 'LOL,' used to react to somethin...
• ビビる To get scared, startled, or intimidated — often used for sudden frights or be...
• ドン引き The feeling of being totally put off, creeped out, or repulsed — an extreme r...
• キレる To snap, lose one's temper, or blow up in anger — describes a sudden explosiv...
• ムカつく To be irritated, annoyed, or pissed off — expresses a simmering frustration o...
• テンション A person's energy level, mood, or excitement — not 'tension' in the English s...
• テンパる To panic, be flustered, or lose composure when overwhelmed — describes a stat...
• 萎える To lose motivation, feel deflated, or have one's excitement killed — describe...
• 凹む To feel depressed, down, or dejected — like an emotional dent has been put in...
• ショック An expression of being shocked or devastated by unexpected bad news — used as...
• ざわざわ A feeling of unease, restlessness, or something being unsettlingly off — an i...
• ゾッとする To get chills, feel horror, or experience a shudder of dread — a visceral chi...
• ブチギレ To completely lose it, explode with rage, or go ballistic — an intensified ve...
• イライラ A state of irritation, frustration, or being on edge — a sustained restless a...
• ワクワク A feeling of excited anticipation, thrilled expectation, or eager excitement ...
• ドキドキ The sound and feeling of a pounding heart — used for nervous excitement, roma...
• ハラハラ Feeling anxious or on edge while watching something unfold — a nail-biting, s...
• キュンとする A heart-fluttering, swooning feeling — the sweet pang of romantic or emotiona...
• 胸熱 Deeply moved or heart-warming — describes the feeling of one's chest swelling...
• 鳥肌 Goosebumps — used to describe an intense emotional or physical reaction to so...
• 号泣 Bawling or ugly crying — crying intensely and uncontrollably, often loudly.
• 爆笑 Burst out laughing or dying of laughter — an explosive, uncontrollable laugh.
• ツボる To hit one's funny bone — something strikes you as so funny you can't stop la...
• じわる Slowly becoming funny — a delayed, creeping sense of humour that gradually bu...
• エモーショナル Emotional or deeply feeling — used to describe something that evokes strong, ...
• ガチ泣き Genuinely crying or shedding real tears — emphasises that the crying is serio...
• ブルーになる To feel blue or get depressed — describes falling into a low or melancholy mood.
• メンタルやられる Mentally destroyed or having one's mental health wrecked — describes being em...
• 病む To become mentally unwell or depressed — describes falling into a dark or emo...
• 沸く To be hyped up or to have excitement boiling over — describes a state of inte...
• アガる To get pumped up or excited — describes one's mood or energy level rising.
• サゲる To bring down the mood or kill the vibe — describes something or someone that...
• テンション上がる Getting hyped or having one's energy rising — describes becoming excited or e...
• テンション下がる Losing energy or having one's mood drop — describes becoming deflated, disapp...
• 気まずい Awkward or describing an uncomfortable situation — the feeling when the atmos...
• しんどい Exhausted, tough, or emotionally draining — describes physical or mental fati...
• つらたん So painful or suffering — a cute, playful way of expressing that something is...
• メンブレ Mental breakdown — an abbreviated term for being mentally overwhelmed or emot...
• メンヘラ A label for someone perceived as emotionally unstable, overly needy, or havin...
• ヤンデレ A character archetype or personality describing someone lovesick to the point...
• ツンデレ A personality type or character archetype that is cold and hostile on the out...
• 構ってちゃん An attention-seeker — someone who craves attention through dramatic behaviour...
• うるっとくる To tear up, to get misty-eyed — that moment when your eyes well up with emotion.
• ほっこり Heartwarming, feeling cozy and warm inside — a gentle, fuzzy happy feeling fr...
• 癒される To be healed or soothed emotionally — to find comfort and peace from somethin...
• もやもや A nagging, hazy unease — feeling vaguely unsettled about something but unable...
• そわそわ Restless, fidgety, unable to sit still — the jittery feeling from anticipatio...
• ぞくぞく Spine-tingling, thrilling — the shiver down your spine from excitement, fear,...
• 悶える To writhe — used for extreme reactions to cuteness, frustration, or cringe, e...
• 発狂 Going crazy — used hyperbolically online for extreme excitement, shock, or fr...
• 感極まる To be overwhelmed with emotion, moved to the point of tears — a literary expr...
• 感動 Deeply moved, touched emotionally — one of the most common and versatile expr...
• 激おこ Extremely angry, furious — a cute and humorous internet way to express rage t...
• おこ Angry, mad — a cute and abbreviated way to say you're upset that softens the ...
• 泣ける Makes you cry, so touching or moving — used as a one-word reaction to recomme...
• 尊い Too precious, sacred, divine — a fandom term for things or people so overwhel...
• チル To chill, to relax — borrowed directly from English 'chill' and used as a tre...
• チルい Chill vibes, having a relaxed and mellow atmosphere — a Japanese-coined adjec...
• だるい Sluggish, lethargic, can't be bothered — covers both physical tiredness and m...
• めんどい Shortened form of めんどくさい (mendokusai) — such a pain, too much hassle, can't b...
• どうでもいい Don't care, whatever, it doesn't matter — expressing indifference or dismissi...
• 無理 Can't handle it, impossible, I'm done — an all-purpose expression of being ov...
• 限界突破 Breaking past one's limit — used when you've pushed beyond exhaustion or when...
• 感情の渋滞 Emotional traffic jam — when too many feelings hit at once and you can't proc...
• 情緒不安定 Emotionally unstable — used self-deprecatingly when your mood swings wildly o...
• ガン萎え Completely deflated, total buzzkill — the strongest form of disappointment or...
• テンアゲ Tension up, getting hyped — expressing excitement, high energy, and a great m...
• テンサゲ Tension down, mood killed — the opposite of テンアゲ, expressing deflated energy ...
• わろた Laughed, LOL — internet slang past tense of 笑う (warau), expressing amused rea...
• 草生える LOL, that's hilarious — internet slang where 草 (grass) represents laughter be...
• 笑う As a slang reaction: 'LOL' or 'I'm laughing' — used at the end of sentences o...
• 震える Shaking, trembling — used hyperbolically to express intense excitement, awe, ...
• 泡吹く To foam at the mouth — used for extreme shock or being completely overwhelmed...
• 固まる To freeze up, be stunned speechless — like a computer freezing, unable to pro...
• ぐっとくる To be deeply touched, to get choked up — something tugs at your heartstrings ...
• ゲンナリ Fed up, exhausted and drained by something tedious, repetitive, or disappoint...
• ざわつく To feel uneasy, get a bad vibe, sense that something is off — a gut-level inn...
• ゾワッ A sudden creepy shiver — that visceral moment of disgust, horror, or the cree...