少女 (しょうじょ, shoujo) Japanese meaning: girl

少女 (しょうじょ, shoujo) Japanese meaning: girl | Kotomora

Kanji

少few, little
女woman, female
小little, small

Related words· 10

女おんなの子こN5sense 1
女の子 is the casual, everyday word for a young girl, while 少女 sounds slightly more formal or literary.
乙女おとめN1sense 1
乙女 is a poetic, old-fashioned word evoking innocence or maidenhood, whereas 少女 is the plain, neutral term for a young girl.
娘むすめN4sense 1
娘 usually means one's own daughter or a young unmarried woman in a family context, while 少女 refers neutrally to any young girl.
女じょ性せいN4sense 1
女性 is the general word for a woman of any age, while 少女 specifically means a young girl.

Show 6 more

子し女じょ
少女 is the modern, common word for a young girl, whereas 子女 in this sense is a dated, literary usage that has largely fallen out of everyday speech.
女じょ児じ
女児 is a formal, often written term for a young girl up to elementary-school age, while 少女 is broader and more common, covering older girls and teenagers too.
ガール
少女 is a formal or literary word for a young girl used in writing and news, whereas ガール is a casual, trendy loanword often seen in compound terms.
幼よう女じょ
少女 refers to a girl from roughly elementary school age through her teens, whereas 幼女 refers to a much younger child, from toddler to early elementary age.

Opposites

少しょう年ねんN3sense 1
少年 refers to a boy of similar age, the direct male counterpart to 少女.
老ろう女じょ
老女 refers to an elderly woman, while 少女 refers to a young girl, making them opposites in age.

Counted with

人にん
counter for people

Word family· 13

美び少しょう女じょ
beautiful girl
少しょう女じょ愛あい
sexual attraction to young girls; lolicon
不ふ良りょう少しょう女じょ
bad girl; juvenile delinquent
家いえ出で少しょう女

Written forms

少しょう女じょUsage100%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency word.
小しょう女じょ
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.

Etymology

Composed of 少 (shō, 'few, little, young') and 女 (jo, 'woman, female'). The reading is on'yomi. The archaic ritsuryō sense reflects an older legal definition.

少しょう女じょ

Meanings

Usage patterns