恐ろしい (osoroshii) Japanese meaning: terrible | Kotomora

恐おそろしい

お

そ

ろ

し

い

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

恐ろしい · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	恐おそろしい	恐おそろしくない
Polite	恐おそろしいです	恐おそろしくないですalso 恐おそろしくありません
Past polite	恐おそろしかったです	恐おそろしくなかったですalso 恐おそろしくありませんでした
Past	恐おそろしかった	恐おそろしくなかった
Te-form	恐おそろしくて	恐おそろしくなくて
Adverbial	恐おそろしく
Conditional	恐おそろしければ	恐おそろしくなければ
Tara conditional	恐おそろしかったら	恐おそろしくなかったら

Meanings

Describes something that inspires fear or dread; can be used for real danger or exaggerated emotional reaction.

怖こわいN4sense 1
怖い is the common everyday word for 'scary', while 恐ろしい is stronger and more literary, suggesting deeper dread or an overwhelming degree.
すごいN5sense 2
凄い is a neutral or positive word for 'amazing', while 恐ろしい in its 'tremendous' sense adds a nuance of being startling or excessive.
気き味み悪わるい sense 1
気味悪い describes an eerie, creepy feeling rather than outright fear, whereas 恐ろしい implies genuine dread or terror.
凄すさまじいN1sense 2
凄まじい and 恐ろしい can both mean 'tremendous' in degree, but 凄まじい more often describes intense force or violence rather than fear.

Show 3 more

恐おそるべき
恐ろしい is the everyday i-adjective for 'frightening' and can stand alone as a predicate, while 恐るべき is a literary, prenominal-only form used to modify a noun with heightened formality.
おっかないN1
恐ろしい is a more formal, literary word for 'frightening' or 'terrifying', whereas おっかない is casual and conversational.
ものすごいN3
恐ろしい specifically means 'frightening' or 'terrible', overlapping with the negative sense of ものすごい but lacking its positive/neutral 'amazing' use.

恐おそれるN3sense 1
恐れる is the verb 'to fear', while 恐ろしい is the adjective describing something as frightening; learners often mix up the conjugated forms.

恐おそろしいUsage79%
Standard kanji spelling for both 'terrifying' and 'tremendous' senses.
おそろしいUsage18%
怖おそろしいUsage3%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; 怖 is more common in 怖い (こわい).

Derived from the verb 恐れる (おそれる, 'to fear') + adjective-forming suffix しい. The kanji 恐 carries the core meaning of 'fear' or 'dread'.