How do you say "alligator" in Japanese?

鰐

wani

Noun Kanji

In Japanese, "alligator" is 鰐 (wani).

Listen to the pronunciation:

Free Japanese learning game. No sign-up, play in browser. See all games

Pronunciation

鰐 is written using kanji. Romanised as wani, it sounds roughly like "wah-nee" to an English ear.

Writing and usage

Wani (鰐) uses a kanji that is rarely written by hand in modern Japanese, so most native speakers write the word in hiragana as わに or katakana as ワニ instead, especially in casual or children's writing.

Example sentence

あの鰐はとても可愛いです。

Ano Wani wa totemo kawaii desu.

That alligator is very cute.

Test your Japanese knowledge in our free browser games.

How to remember 鰐

The kanji 鰐 contains the fish radical 魚 on the left, a reminder that alligators and crocodiles are grouped with water creatures in traditional character building, even though they are reptiles.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

See more zoo words.

Questions about 鰐

How do you pronounce 鰐?

鰐 is romanised as wani. Say it roughly like "wah-nee" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 鰐 formal or casual?

鰐 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 鰐 written in Japanese?

鰐 is written using kanji. Wani (鰐) uses a kanji that is rarely written by hand in modern Japanese, so most native speakers write the word in hiragana as わに or katakana as ワニ instead, especially in casual or children's writing..

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Alligator" in other languages

Curated by Jack Ratcliffe

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.

Noun Town language-learning game on PC, Mac and VR

The full experience

Noun Town on PC, Mac & VR

These browser games are just a taste. The full Noun Town is a bigger, deeper 3D world: explore a living town, talk to its characters and learn thousands of words in immersive VR, Mixed Reality, or on your computer. It's an award-winning game with 590+ reviews on Steam and 12 languages to learn.

See the full game ▶

Spot an error? Email us at contact@noun.town