Translation guide
The English word "ecstasy" can refer to intense joy, a trance-like state, or the drug MDMA. This guide focuses on expressing overwhelming happiness and altered states of consciousness in Japanese.
Expressing a state of extreme happiness, bliss, or rapture.
A state of ecstasy, rapture, or trance-like bliss. Often used in literary or descriptive contexts.
He was listening to the music with an ecstatic expression.
To be in seventh heaven, to be ecstatic. A common idiomatic phrase for being overjoyed.
She was ecstatic when she heard the news of passing the exam.
Loanword from English, used for ecstasy in the sense of intense joy, but can also refer to the drug. Context is important.
The performance led the audience into ecstasy.
Wild joy, ecstasy. Implies a more intense, almost frenzied happiness.
At the moment of victory, he was ecstatic.
Feeling as if one is ascending to heaven; a poetic way to describe ecstasy.
He felt ecstatic at the news.
Describing a state of altered consciousness, often spiritual or meditative, where one feels transported beyond normal awareness.
Self-oblivion, ecstasy, trance. A state where one loses sense of self, often in religious or artistic contexts.
He reached a state of ecstasy in meditation.
Religious ecstasy, spiritual rapture. Specifically used for ecstasy in a religious or mystical context.
Trance. Loanword often used for hypnotic or shamanic states, but can overlap with ecstasy.
Referring to the illegal recreational drug commonly known as Ecstasy.
The drug MDMA. This is the standard term in Japanese as well.
Ecstasy is an illegal drug.
The chemical abbreviation, used in more formal or technical contexts.
MDMA use causes serious health damage.
While 恍惚 (こうこつ) and エクスタシー can mean ecstasy, they are strong words. For everyday extreme happiness, 有頂天 (うちょうてん) or simply とても嬉しい (とてもうれしい) is more natural. Using 恍惚 in casual conversation may sound overly dramatic or literary.
恍惚 (こうこつ) implies a dreamy, absorbed state of bliss, often used for aesthetic or spiritual experiences. 有頂天 (うちょうてん) is a more down-to-earth, idiomatic expression for being over the moon with joy, suitable for personal achievements or good news.
She was in ecstasy after winning the lottery.
The music filled him with ecstasy.
The saint was immersed in religious ecstasy.
彼女はトランス状態で踊り続けた。
She kept dancing in a trance-like state.