How do you say Cute in Japanese?
The word is かわいい (kawaii) — cute, adorable, sweet. It applies to people, animals, clothes, packaging and almost anything small and appealing.
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かわいい！
kawaii
Cute! — the everyday reaction.
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かわいいですね
kawaii desu ne
Polite: “that’s cute, isn’t it?”
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すごくかわいい
sugoku kawaii
Really cute.
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かわいらしい
kawairashii
Charming, sweet — slightly more literary.
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かっこいい
kakkoii
“Cool, good-looking” — the usual compliment for a man, where kawaii can sound patronising.
3 translations in Japanese
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Cute in Japanese is かわいい.
Human translation Arora
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Thought i would add my example, it could be a little different from what babelfish said but i think its good enough. I took a random English sentence and translated it.
"Our cute panda loves to have his photo taken."
'私たちのかわいいパンダを愛している、彼の写真を撮影します。'Human translation Carlos
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I wanted to show a good example I discovered.
'彼女は、ボタンとしてかわいいです。'
from this in Engilsh: "She is as cute as a button."Human translation Donald Mello
Use it in a sentence
- Your dog is so cute!犬がすごくかわいい！Inu ga sugoku kawaii!
- She’s really cute.彼女は本当にかわいい。Kanojo wa hontō ni kawaii.
- What a cute baby.かわいい赤ちゃんですね。Kawaii akachan desu ne.
- That bag is cute.そのかばん、かわいい。Sono kaban, kawaii.
Good to know
It is an い-adjective, so the past is かわいかった (kawaikatta) and the negative is かわいくない (kawaikunai).
Written in kanji it is 可愛い, but everyday writing uses kana.
Careful with かわいそう (kawaisō) — it looks similar but means “poor thing, how pitiful”.