Translation guide
The English word "grooming" covers several distinct meanings: personal care and hygiene, preparing someone (especially a child) for a specific role or for abuse, animal cleaning behavior, and smoothing or tidying fur/feathers. This guide separates these meanings and gives natural Japanese equivalents for each.
The act of making oneself clean and neat, including hair, nails, skin, etc.
He spends a lot of time on grooming. · Good grooming is important for a job interview.
Refers to personal appearance and the effort to look neat and clean. Often used in contexts like business or daily life.
身だしなみに気をつけている。
I pay attention to my grooming.
面接では身だしなみが大切だ。
Grooming is important in an interview.
The act of tidying one's appearance, often used for fixing clothes or hair. Slightly more formal/literary than 身だしなみ.
彼は鏡の前で身繕いをした。
He groomed himself in front of the mirror.
Literally 'care of one's personal surroundings', but used for personal grooming and hygiene.
毎朝、身の回りの手入れに時間がかかる。
Every morning, grooming takes time.
Loanword from English, used in specific contexts like pet grooming or sometimes in fashion/beauty. Not the default for personal grooming.
ペットのグルーミングにお金をかけている。
I spend money on pet grooming.
The act of preparing or training someone for a particular activity, or the manipulative process of building trust with a victim (especially a child) for sexual abuse.
The coach is grooming him to be the next captain. · Online predators use social media for grooming.
To tame or win someone over, often with manipulative intent. Used for both positive (training) and negative (grooming for abuse) contexts.
彼は新人を手なずけて自分の後継者にしようとしている。
He is grooming the newcomer to be his successor.
犯人は子供を手なずけてから誘拐した。
The criminal groomed the child before kidnapping.
To nurture or develop someone's skills, often used in sports or business. Neutral/positive connotation.
彼は若手選手を育成している。
He is grooming young players.
Same as 手なずける but with a different kanji. Slightly more literary.
Direct translation for 'sexual grooming', used in news or legal contexts.
性的グルーミングは犯罪です。
Sexual grooming is a crime.
The act of an animal cleaning itself or another animal, such as licking fur or picking at feathers.
Cats spend hours grooming themselves. · Monkeys engage in social grooming.
Specifically refers to animals grooming their fur or feathers. Very common for cats, birds, etc.
猫が毛繕いをしている。
The cat is grooming itself.
鳥は羽繕いに多くの時間を使う。
Birds spend a lot of time grooming their feathers.
Specifically for birds preening their feathers. A subset of 毛繕い.
The act of a person or animal smoothing or arranging fur, feathers, or hair, often with a tool.
She was grooming the horse's mane. · The bird groomed its feathers with its beak.
To arrange or tidy up. Can be used for hair, fur, feathers, etc. General and natural.
馬のたてがみを整える。
Groom the horse's mane.
彼女は髪を手で整えた。
She groomed her hair with her hands.
To brush (hair/fur). Very common for pet grooming.
犬をブラッシングする。
Groom the dog (with a brush).
To comb or card (hair/fur). Often used for thorough grooming.
猫の毛を梳いてやる。
Groom the cat's fur (with a comb).
While グルーミング is understood, it sounds like a loanword and is not the natural choice for daily personal grooming. Use 身だしなみ or 身繕い instead.
身だしなみを整える。
Groom oneself.
毛繕い is the general term for animals grooming fur or feathers. 羽繕い is specific to birds preening feathers. Use 毛繕い unless you need to emphasize feathers.
猫は毛繕いが大好きだ。
Cats love grooming.
インコが羽繕いを始めた。
The parakeet started grooming its feathers.
彼は野良猫を手懐けた。
He tamed a stray cat.
Used in biology/ethology for animal grooming behavior, especially social grooming among primates.
霊長類の社会的グルーミングは絆を強める。
Social grooming in primates strengthens bonds.
スズメが羽繕いをしている。
The sparrow is grooming its feathers.