Refers to a woman on or around her wedding day, or a newly married woman. Often used in contexts like お嫁さん (polite) or 花嫁 (bride).
彼女は美しい花嫁になった。
She became a beautiful bride.
お嫁さんはとても幸せそうだった。
The bride looked very happy.
daughter-in-law
Used from the perspective of the husband's parents. Can also be used more broadly to refer to a son's wife. Often appears as お嫁さん in polite speech.
うちの嫁は料理が上手だ。
My daughter-in-law is good at cooking.
息子の嫁が来月出産する。
My son's wife is having a baby next month.
Dialectal (Kansai-ben) and somewhat old-fashioned or rustic way for a man to refer to his own wife. In standard Japanese, 妻 or 家内 are more common.
うちの嫁が作ったんや。
My wife made it. (Kansai dialect)
おたくの嫁さん、元気？
How's your wife? (Kansai dialect)
He took a woman from the neighborhood as his wife.
Next month, my son will be bringing home his new wife.
My eldest son finally got married.
新婦 is the formal term for the bride used in wedding ceremonies and announcements, while 嫁 is more casual and has broader meanings.
家内 is a humble term a man uses for his own wife, while 嫁 in this sense is dialectal and rustic rather than humble.
嫁 is a common casual term for one's wife, less specifically tied to the 'family' warmth that 母ちゃん carries.
嫁 can colloquially mean 'wife' like 家内, but its core meaning is 'bride' or 'daughter-in-law' from the perspective of the husband's parents, which 家内 never means.
elder brother's wife; sister-in-law
ex-wife; former wife
daughter-in-law and mother-in-law; relationship between a wife and her husband's mother
bride · one's daughter-in-law
Aster yomena; Japanese aster
younger brother's wife; sister-in-law (younger brother's spouse)
newly-wed bride
demon wife; wife from hell; cruel wife
mouse (New Year euphemism)
Cellana toreuma (limpet species)
wife
Rarely used kanji form.
Rarely used kanji form.