Translation guide
Ways to express extreme cold in Japanese, from weather descriptions to physical sensations.
Describing very cold weather or climate conditions.
A common and natural phrase for 'intense cold', often used in weather reports or daily conversation.
今日は厳しい寒さですね。
It's intensely cold today, isn't it?
Literally 'extreme cold', often used in formal or written contexts like weather forecasts.
明日は極寒となるでしょう。
It will be extremely cold tomorrow.
A more literary term for severe cold, used in formal writing or poetry.
厳寒の地での生活は過酷だ。
Life in a land of intense cold is harsh.
Expressing the feeling of intense cold on the body.
Idiomatic phrase meaning 'cold that cuts through you', very natural for describing piercing cold.
外は身を切るような寒さだ。
It's bitterly cold outside.
Means 'freezing cold', emphasizing the sensation of being frozen.
凍えるような寒さで、手がかじかんだ。
It was so intensely cold that my hands went numb.
Refers to a deep, penetrating cold that chills you to the bone, often used for indoor cold in winter.
Referring to a sudden period of intense cold.
Standard term for 'cold wave' or 'cold snap', used in news and daily talk.
強い寒波がやってくる。
An intense cold wave is coming.
Emphasizes a major or severe cold wave.
寒さ (samusa) refers to coldness of the air or environment (weather), while 冷たさ (tsumetasa) refers to coldness of objects or touch. For 'intense cold' as a weather concept, use 寒さ.
今日の寒さは厳しい。
Today's cold is intense.
この水の冷たさは異常だ。
The coldness of this water is abnormal.
Avoid directly translating 'intense cold' as 強烈な寒さ (kyouretsu na samusa). While understandable, it sounds unnatural. Use the idiomatic phrases above instead.
It's a penetrating cold tonight.
記録的な大寒波に見舞われた。
We were hit by a record-breaking intense cold snap.