also: じゃこ · ざっこ
Refers to small, often mixed, fish of little value, typically used as bait or in cheap dishes.
Use small fish as fishing bait.
noob; weak player
Internet slang for an inexperienced or unskilled player in online games; often used dismissively.
I caught some small fish in the river.
市場で雑魚を安く買った。
I bought cheap small fish at the market.
He's still treated as a nobody in the company.
I have no business with a small fry like that.
That team is full of noobs and can't win.
It's unthinkable to lose to weak players.
They say behind his back that he has a small dick.
He's always treated like a nobody.
I leveled up by defeating weak enemies in the game.
Weak players keep popping up in the online game.
小魚 is a neutral term for small fish, while 雑魚 often carries a dismissive nuance of being cheap or worthless.
三下 is an old-fashioned term for a low-ranking underling, while 雑魚 is a broader, more modern word for any unimportant or weak person.
雑魚 is a more slangy, dismissive way to call someone a weakling or nobody, while 小物 can be used more neutrally to describe low rank or importance.
蠅 as an insult calls someone worthless like a bothersome fly, while 雑魚 mocks someone as an insignificant, low-ranking nobody.
大物 means an important or powerful figure, the opposite of 雑魚's sense of an insignificant nobody.
強者 describes a skilled or dominant player, contrasting with 雑魚's slang meaning of a weak, inexperienced player.
Small fish like 雑魚 are typically counted with 匹, the counter used for small animals and fish.
sleeping bunched together; sleeping in a huddle
background character; nameless minor character · mob; weak enemy; minor enemy
Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
Alternate reading; less common and may be confused with 雑魚 (じゃこ) meaning small fish used in cooking.
Katakana spelling common in informal writing, especially for the derogatory and slang senses.
Obsolete kana variant; not used in modern Japanese.
Search-only kanji form; not used in modern writing.
Compound of 雑 (miscellaneous, mixed) and 魚 (fish). The derogatory figurative senses developed from the idea of small, worthless fish.