ビビる

• 読み: ビビる
• ローマ字: bibiru
• 発音: /bi.bi.ɾɯ/

意味

To get scared, startled, or intimidated — often used for sudden frights or being nervous about something.

ビビる expresses a visceral, often physical fear reaction — the jolt when something startles you, or the nervous dread before a big event. It can range from light ('I got a little spooked') to serious ('I was terrified'). It is somewhat more masculine-coded but used by all genders. The ビビり form is a noun meaning 'scaredy-cat.'

例文

1. お化け屋敷でめっちゃビビった。
2. あいつビビりすぎて一人でトイレ行けないんだよ。
3. 面接前にビビってたけど、意外とうまくいった。

使い方ガイド

場面: friends, storytelling, casual conversation

トーン: startled, nervous, self-deprecating

正しい言い方

• 急に後ろから声かけられてビビった！ (Someone called out from behind me suddenly and I jumped!)
• ビビらないで、大丈夫だから。 (Don't be scared, it'll be fine.)

避ける言い方

• 年上の人に「ビビってるんですか？」は挑発的 (Asking an older person 'are you scared?' with ビビる sounds provocative and disrespectful)

よくある間違い

• Confusing ビビる (involuntary fear reaction) with 怖がる (kowagaru, to be afraid in general) — ビビる implies a more sudden, visceral fright

起源と歴史

Likely onomatopoeic, imitating the trembling or vibrating sensation of fear. Some theories trace it to the sound of a bowstring (びびっ) in samurai-era warfare, when arrows induced fear.

文化的背景

時代: Long-standing colloquial term, popularized in modern slang since 1980s

世代: All ages in casual speech

社会的背景: Casual, slightly masculine-coded but universal

地域メモ: Used across Japan. ビビり (noun form meaning coward/scaredy-cat) is equally widespread.