怖い (こわい, kowai) Japanese meaning: scary | Kotomora

怖こわい

こ

わ

い

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

Meanings

i-adjective

scary; frightening; eerie; dreadful

Describes something that causes fear or unease; can be used for physical threats, supernatural things, or abstract dread.

あの映

Kanji

怖dreadful, be frightened, fearful
恐fear, dread, awe

Related words

恐おそろしいN3
恐ろしい expresses a deeper, more formal or intense fear than 怖い, which is the everyday word for something scary.
不ぶ気き味みN2
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.
おっかないN1
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.
恐おそる
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.
気き味みが悪わるいN3
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

恐おそれるN3
怖い is an adjective describing something as scary, while 恐れる is the verb describing the act of a person fearing it.
怖こわがるN1
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.
かわいいN5
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

怖こわがるN1
be afraid of; fear; be scared of
こわ
frightening; terrifying; scary
怖こわいもの知しらず
foolhardy; reckless; fearless

Written forms

怖こわいUsage72%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
こわいUsage16%
Kana spelling, often used in casual writing or when the kanji is not needed.
恐こわいUsage10%
Alternate kanji spelling, also common but less frequent than 怖い.
コワイUsage1%

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.

怖こわい

Meanings

Usage patterns

Expressions