Suffix attached to the given name or full name of a male of equal or lower status, often used by superiors addressing juniors, among friends, or in school settings. Conveys familiarity or slight respect.
Yamada-kun, come here a moment.
Tanaka-kun is the captain of the soccer club.
Used after the name of a female of lower status, typically by male speakers in formal or workplace settings. Less common than the male usage; in many contexts さん is preferred.
Suzuki-kun, please copy these documents.
Archaic respectful suffix for both genders, now largely obsolete except in the Japanese Diet where it is still used among members.
In the Diet, members still address each other as '○○-kun'.
tyrant; despot
man of virtue; wise man; gentleman · person of high rank; noble · the Four Gentlemen (plum, chrysanthemum, orchid, bamboo)
you (polite, archaic, masculine, epistolary)
sovereign; ruler
wise ruler; enlightened monarch; benevolent lord
(another's) husband
(honorific) father
(one's) wife · wife (of a peer or subordinate)
monarch; sovereign · shogun (Tokugawa)
you two; both of you · two monarchs; two rulers
two masters
one's deceased lord
benevolent ruler
what name; what's-his-name
previous lord; late lord · one's late father · ancestor
your father (honorific)
the aforementioned person; that person (formal)