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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "fear" in Japanese?
恐れる
osore ru
In Japanese, "fear" is 恐れる (osore ru).
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Pronunciation
O-so-re-ru, four syllables, said smoothly with light stress, quite different from the tense English word 'fear'.
Writing and usage
恐れる is written using kanji. It's a verb, 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
多くの人が暗闇を恐れています。
ooku no nin ga kurayami wo osore teimasu.
Many people fear the dark.
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How to remember 恐れる
Osoreru sounds like 'oh, sore, rue' — a sore spot that makes you rue ever touching it, out of fear.
Related words
- run 走る hashiru
- walk 歩く aruku
- jump ジャンプする janpu suru
- climb 登る noboru
- crawl 這う hau
- swim 泳ぐ oyogu
- fall 落ちる ochiru
- eat 食べる tabe ru
- chew 噛む kamu
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about 恐れる
How do you pronounce 恐れる?
O-so-re-ru, four syllables, said smoothly with light stress, quite different from the tense English word 'fear'.
Is 恐れる formal or casual?
恐れる 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 恐れる written in Japanese?
恐れる is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as osore ru.
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.
"Fear" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
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