Feelings and Emotions in Japanese

In English, “happy” often covers a whole mood. Japanese splits the same feeling faster: 嬉しい (ureshii) points at a moment of joy, while 幸せ (shiawase) leans toward a steadier sense of being well with life. That split shows up across the language of feelings.

If you want to talk about feelings and emotions in Japanese, a word list alone is not enough. You also need the small differences between adjectives, verbs, and everyday phrases that Japanese speakers actually reach for.

For related vocabulary, these pages go deeper into love, confession, and relationships:

Contents 4

List of feelings and emotions in Japanese

Japanese is dense with near-synonyms. Two words may share an English gloss and still sound wrong in the same scene. The table below mixes adjectives, na-adjectives, verbs, and set expressions — because speakers do the same thing in real conversation.

Use your browser search (Ctrl + F / Cmd + F) to jump to a specific feeling.

Responsive table: scroll sideways on small screens >>

Japanese	Romaji	English
感情	kanjou	Emotion; feelings
うきうき	ukiuki	Excited; thrilled; buoyant
恐ろしい	osoroshii	Terrifying; dreadful
びっくりした	bikkuri shita	Surprised
気がする	ki ga suru	To feel; to have a hunch
感じ(る)	kanji(ru)	Feeling; to feel
まごまご	magomago	Flustered; confused
優しく	yasashiku	Kindly; gently
怒る	okoru	To get angry; to be mad
穏やか	odayaka	Calm; gentle; quiet
悲しい	kanashii	Sad; unhappy
哀れ（な）	aware (na)	Pitiful; miserable
不幸（な）	fukou (na)	Unhappy; unfortunate
幸せ（な）	shiawase (na)	Happy; content with life
嬉しい	ureshii	Glad; happy about something specific
孤独（な）	kodoku (na)	Lonely; isolated
落ち込む	ochikomu	To feel down; to get depressed
悔しい	kuyashii	Frustrated; mortified
厄介（な）	yakkai (na)	Troublesome; annoying; burdensome
がっかり	gakkari	Disappointed; discouraged
感謝（する）	kansha (suru)	Gratitude; to thank
平静（な）	heisei (na)	Calm; composed
生き生き	ikiiki	Lively; full of life
おかしがる	okashigaru	To find something funny or amusing
満ち足りる	michitariru	To feel content; satisfied
小腹が立つ	kobara ga tatsu	To get a little annoyed
怯える	obieru	To be scared; to cower
心配（する）	shinpai (suru)	Worry; to be worried
恋（する）	koi (suru)	Romantic love; to be in love
退屈（する）	taikutsu (suru)	Boredom; to be bored
疲れる	tsukareru	To get tired
驚く	odoroku	To be surprised; astonished
羨ましい	urayamashii	Envious; jealous
やましい	yamashii	Guilty; with a bad conscience
緊張（する）	kinchou (suru)	Nervousness; to feel tense
恥ずかしがる	hazukashigaru	To act shy; to feel bashful
恥ずかしい	hazukashii	Embarrassed; shameful
気楽（な）	kiraku (na)	Carefree; at ease
ゆっくり（する）	yukkuri (suru)	Slowly; to take it easy
憎しみ	nikushimi	Hatred
強気	tsuyoki	Confident; assertive
くたくた	kutakuta	Exhausted; worn out
断固（たる）	danko (taru)	Firm; determined
独創的（な）	dokusouteki (na)	Creative; original
意欲的	iyokuteki	Motivated; ambitious
忙しい	isogashii	Busy
情熱	jounetsu	Passion
愛情	aijou	Affection; love
びっくり	bikkuri	Surprise
落ち着く	ochitsuku	To calm down
憂える	ureeru	To worry; to feel troubled

Ureshii and shiawase are not the same “happy”

English often collapses several Japanese emotions into one word. Two of the most useful contrasts:

嬉しい (ureshii) — glad about a concrete event: a message, a gift, a good grade.
幸せ (shiawase) — a broader sense of happiness or contentment with life.
怒る (okoru) — the everyday verb for getting angry (the older reading ikaru is rare in conversation).
驚く (odoroku) and びっくりする (bikkuri suru) — both cover surprise; bikkuri feels more colloquial and sudden.

When you pick a word, ask what kind of moment you are naming: a flash of feeling, a lasting state, or an action (getting angry, calming down, falling into a low mood).

Example sentences about feelings and emotions

These short examples show the words inside a sentence, with romaji and English:

君は恋するには若すぎる。
Kimi wa koi suru ni wa waka sugiru.
You are too young to be in love.

彼はすぐ怒る。
Kare wa sugu okoru.
He gets angry very easily.

情熱は苦悩を生む。
Jounetsu wa kunou o umu.
Passion creates suffering.

それはあまりにも悲しい。
Sore wa amari ni mo kanashii.
That is far too sad.

愛情と憎しみは正反対の感情だ。
Aijou to nikushimi wa seihantai no kanjou da.
Affection and hatred are opposite emotions.

試験に合格して嬉しい。
Shiken ni goukaku shite ureshii.
I am glad I passed the exam.

最近ちょっと落ち込んでいる。
Saikin chotto ochikonde iru.
I have been feeling a bit down lately.

How to use emotion words more naturally

Many Japanese emotion words work as i-adjectives (ureshii, kanashii, hazukashii), na-adjectives (shiawase, shinpai), or verbs (okoru, odoroku, ochikomu). Mimetics such as ukiuki, gakkari, and bikkuri often pair with suru or stand alone in casual speech.

If a line from a drama or song does not match the dictionary gloss, trust the situation first. Emotion vocabulary is learned as much from tone and context as from a clean one-to-one translation.