How do you say "bitter" in Japanese?

苦い

nigai

Adjective Kanji

In Japanese, "bitter" is 苦い (nigai).

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Pronunciation

Say NEE-gai, two syllables, nigai rhymes loosely with 'knee guy', with the stress sitting on the first syllable.

Writing and usage

苦い is written using kanji. It's a adjective, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.

Example sentence

ダークコーヒーはかなり苦いです。

daakukoohii hakanari nigai desu.

The dark coffee is quite bitter.

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How to remember 苦い

Nigai sounds like 'knee, guy', picture a guy scraping his knee and grimacing at the bitter taste of the medicine on the wound.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 苦い

How do you pronounce 苦い?

Say NEE-gai, two syllables, nigai rhymes loosely with 'knee guy', with the stress sitting on the first syllable.

Is 苦い formal or casual?

苦い 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 苦い written in Japanese?

苦い is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as nigai.

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.

"Bitter" in other languages

Curated by Callan 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. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.

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