Translation guide
The English word "nut" covers food nuts, mechanical nuts, and slang uses. This guide focuses on the most common meanings for learners: the food item, the hardware piece, and a few idiomatic expressions.
Referring to a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed, often eaten as a snack or used in cooking.
The most common and general word for nuts as a food category, especially mixed nuts or snack nuts. A loanword from English.
I ate some nuts as a snack.
Literally 'tree fruit/seed'. Refers to nuts and berries from trees, often in a natural or poetic context. Can include acorns, chestnuts, etc.
The squirrel is gathering nuts.
Botanical term for a true nut (hard-shelled fruit). Rare in everyday conversation; used in scientific contexts.
Acorns are a type of nut.
A small metal block with a threaded hole, used with a bolt.
A person who is eccentric, crazy, or obsessed with something.
Means 'eccentric person' or 'weirdo'. Closest to calling someone a 'nut' in a light-hearted way.
He's a bit of a nut, but interesting.
Means 'lunatic' or 'madman'. Stronger and more negative than 変人. Use with caution.
Can be offensive; not a casual 'nut'.
Means 'enthusiast' or 'fanatic'. Used for someone obsessed with a hobby (e.g., car nut).
Slang for a person's head, often in phrases like 'off one's nut' or 'use your nut'.
A hard nut to crack: a difficult problem or person to understand.
Slang for testicles. Often used in the plural 'nuts'.
While 木の実 is correct, using it for snack nuts sounds poetic or old-fashioned. Stick to ナッツ for modern snacks.
Peanuts are a type of nut.
変人 is a mild 'weirdo', while 狂人 implies serious mental instability. Use 変人 for a harmless eccentric, and avoid 狂人 unless you mean 'lunatic'.
He's treated like a nut.
The nut/screw was loose.
あの狂人から離れろ。
Get away from that nut.
He's a car nut.
He's a tough nut to crack.
睾丸の検査を受けた。
I had a testicular exam.