How do you say "cold" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "cold" is 寒い (Samui). It is a adjective pronounced "sah-moo-ee".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

寒い is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as Samui, it sounds roughly like "sah-moo-ee" to an English ear.

Example sentence

今日はとても寒いです。

Kyou wa totemo samui desu.

It is very cold today.

Usage notes

Samui (寒い) is an i-adjective for cold weather or air temperature. Do not use it for objects that feel cold to the touch; use tsumetai instead. Samui is specifically for cold atmospheric conditions and seasons.

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Questions about 寒い

How do you pronounce 寒い?

寒い is romanised as Samui. Say it roughly like "sah-moo-ee" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 寒い formal or casual?

寒い is an i-adjective. The form shown is the plain form, which works in casual speech. To make it polite, add desu at the end of the sentence. The word itself does not change.

How is 寒い written in Japanese?

寒い is written using kanji and hiragana. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

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.