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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "rough" in Japanese?
ざらざらした
zarazarashita
In Japanese, "rough" is ざらざらした (zarazarashita).
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Pronunciation
Za-ra-za-ra-shi-ta, the repeated 'zara' mimics a scraping, textured sound, echoing the roughness itself.
Writing and usage
ざらざらした is written using hiragana. 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
木の樹皮がざらざらしている。
ki no juhi gazarazarashiteiru.
The bark of the tree feels rough.
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How to remember ざらざらした
Zarazara repeats like sandpaper scraping, zzz-ah, zzz-ah — the sound practically feels rough.
Related words
- hard 硬い katai
- smooth 滑らかな nameraka na
- loud うるさい urusai
- thick 厚い atsui
- thin 薄い usui
- fresh 新鮮 shinsen
- rotten 腐った kusatsu ta
- ripe 熟した jukushi ta
- raw 生の uno
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about ざらざらした
How do you pronounce ざらざらした?
Za-ra-za-ra-shi-ta, the repeated 'zara' mimics a scraping, textured sound, echoing the roughness itself.
Is ざらざらした formal or casual?
ざらざらした 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 ざらざらした written in Japanese?
ざらざらした is written using hiragana. Romanised, it reads as zarazarashita.
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.
"Rough" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
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