Common word› JLPT N4 › Freq. Frequency Top 500 Conjugation 怖い · i-adjective
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 怖こわ い 怖こわ くない Polite 怖こわ いです 怖こわ くないです also 怖こわ くありません Past polite 怖こわ かったです 怖こわ くなかったです also 怖こわ くありませんでした Past 怖こわ かった 怖こわ くなかった Te-form 怖こわ くて 怖こわ くなくて Adverbial 怖こわ く Conditional 怖こわ ければ 怖こわ くなければ Tara conditional 怖こわ かったら 怖こわ くなかったら
Usage patterns 〈 人ひと 〉 は 〈 物もの 〉 が 怖こわ い someone is afraid of something
〈 動どう 詞し 〉 のが 怖こわ い to be afraid to do something
I'm scared of climbing high places.
怖こわ い 夢ゆめ を 見み る to have a scary dream
I woke up in the middle of the night from a scary dream.
怖こわ い 思おも いをする to have a frightening experience
I had a frightening experience during the earthquake.
〈 物もの 〉 が 怖こわ くてたまらない to be unbearably afraid of something
I'm terrified of heights.
怖こわ くなる to become frightened
I suddenly got scared when I was left alone.
Expressions 怖こわ い 顔かお scary face; angry look; grim expression 怖こわ いもの 見み たさ morbid curiosity; urge to see something scary or unpleasant 赤あか 信しん 号ごう 皆みんな で 渡わた れば 怖こわ くない if everyone crosses against the red light together, there's nothing to be afraid of; there's no reason to feel guilty about doing something bad if everyone does it Kanji 怖 dreadful, be frightened, fearful Related words 恐ろしい expresses a deeper, more formal or intense fear than 怖い , which is the everyday word for something scary.
不気味 describes an eerie, unsettling feeling (like something creepy but not directly threatening), while 怖い covers fear in general, including direct danger.
怖い is the standard, neutral word for 'scary', while おっかない is a more colloquial, rougher-sounding equivalent often heard in casual or eastern-Japan speech.
怖い is a common modern adjective meaning 'scary/frightening', whereas 恐る is an archaic verb meaning 'to fear', so they differ in both era and part of speech.
怖い describes a direct, strong fear response, whereas 気味が悪い conveys a milder, more ambiguous sense of unease or wrongness.
Don't confuse with 怖い is an adjective describing something as scary, while 恐れる is the verb describing the act of a person fearing it.
怖い is an i-adjective meaning 'scary/frightening' describing the thing itself, while 怖がる is a verb describing a person's act of showing fear.
怖い is often mixed up with 可愛い by beginners because of the similar sound, but it means 'scary/frightening' and is unrelated in meaning.
Word family be afraid of; fear; be scared of
frightening; terrifying; scary
foolhardy; reckless; fearless
Written forms 怖こわ い Usage 72%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
こわい Usage 16%
Kana spelling, often used in casual writing or when the kanji is not needed.
恐こわ い Usage 10%
Alternate kanji spelling, also common but less frequent than 怖い .
コワイ Usage 1%
Etymology The word こわい is a native Japanese adjective. The kanji 怖 and 恐 both convey fear, with 怖 often used for more immediate or personal fear, while 恐 can imply a broader sense of dread or awe. The exact historical derivation is uncertain.
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