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恐ろしい (おそろしい) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

恐おそろしい

お

そ

ろ

し

い

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

1

i-adjective

terrible; dreadful; terrifying

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

あの事じ故こは本ほん当とうに恐おそろしかった。
That accident was truly terrifying.
彼かれの怒おこった顔

かお

は

恐おそ

ろしい

。

His angry face is frightening.

2

i-adjective

tremendous; amazing; startling

Only when written 恐ろしい

Often used adverbially as 恐ろしく to mean 'extremely' or 'awfully'; expresses a high degree, not literal fear. Restricted to the 恐ろしい spelling.

彼かれは恐おそろしく速はやく走はしる。
He runs tremendously fast.
恐おそろしい量りょうの仕し事ごとが残のこっている。
A startling amount of work remains.

Written 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).

Kanji

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

Similar words

怖こわい
怖い is the more common, everyday word for 'scary' or 'frightening'. 恐ろしい is stronger and more literary, often implying a deeper dread or an overwhelming degree.
凄すごい
凄い means 'amazing' or 'terrific' in a positive or neutral sense. 恐ろしい in its 'tremendous' sense can overlap, but often carries a nuance of being startling or excessive.

Etymology

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'.