I don't speak Japanese.
Source: tatoeba (1482)
Japanese
/ˌd͡ʒæpəˈniːz/
Synonyms for "japanese" (14 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: nipponese, jap, japan, japan-related, japanese language.
- Sentence evidence is available for japanese, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, derived_reverse, wiktionary, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "japanese".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "japanese"
Keep "japanese" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "japanese" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "japanese", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "japanese" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
10 entriesMore specific
13 entriesJapanese architectureJapanese citizenJapanese cuisineJapanese grammarJapanese immigrantJapanese literatureJapanese nationalJapanese scriptJapanese studentKansai dialectKyoto dialectTohoku dialectstandard Japanese
Collocations
7 entriesJapanese architectureJapanese cuisineJapanese cultureJapanese governmentJapanese languageJapanese literatureJapanese society
Inflections
2 entriesmore Japanesemost Japanese
Derivations
1 entriesTranslations
111 translations across 82 languages.
Afrikaans
2 entries- Japannees adj (of or relating to Japan)
- Japans adj (of or relating to Japan)
Albanian
1 entries- japonez adj (of or relating to Japan)
Arabic
1 entries- يَابَانِيّ adj (of or relating to Japan)
Armenian
1 entries- ճապոնական adj (of or relating to Japan)
Asturian
1 entries- xaponés adj (of or relating to Japan)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- yapon adj (of or relating to Japan)
Basque
1 entries- japoniar adj (of or relating to Japan)
Belarusian
1 entries- япо́нскі adj (of or relating to Japan)
Bengali
1 entries- জাপানি adj (of or relating to Japan)
Bulgarian
1 entries- япо́нски adj (of or relating to Japan)
Burmese
1 entries- ဂျပန် adj (of or relating to Japan)
Catalan
1 entries- japonès adj (of or relating to Japan)
Chinese Mandarin
3 entries- 日 adj (of or relating to Japan)
- 日式 adj (of or relating to Japan)
- 日本的 adj (of or relating to Japan)
Czech
1 entries- japonský adj (of or relating to Japan)
Danish
1 entries- japansk adj (of or relating to Japan)
Dutch
3 entries- Japans adj (of or relating to Japan)
- Japanse adj (of or relating to Japan)
- Nippons adj (of or relating to Japan)
Esperanto
1 entries- japana adj (of or relating to Japan)
Estonian
1 entries- jaapani adj (of or relating to Japan)
Faroese
1 entries- japanskur adj (of or relating to Japan)
Finnish
2 entries- japanilainen adj (of or relating to Japan)
- japaninkielinen adj (of or relating to Japan)
French
1 entries- japonais adj (of or relating to Japan)
Friulian
1 entries- gjaponês adj (of or relating to Japan)
Galician
2 entries- xaponesa adj (of or relating to Japan)
- xaponés adj (of or relating to Japan)
Georgian
1 entries- იაპონური adj (of or relating to Japan)
German
1 entries- japanisch adj (of or relating to Japan)
Greek
1 entries- ιαπωνικός adj (of or relating to Japan)
Hawaiian
2 entries- Iāpana adj (of or relating to Japan)
- Kepanī adj (of or relating to Japan)
Hebrew
1 entries- יַפָּנִי adj (of or relating to Japan)
Hindi
1 entries- जापानी adj (of or relating to Japan)
Hungarian
1 entries- japán adj (of or relating to Japan)
Icelandic
1 entries- japanskur adj (of or relating to Japan)
Indonesian
1 entries- Jepang adj (of or relating to Japan)
Interlingua
1 entries- japonese adj (of or relating to Japan)
Irish
1 entries- Seapánach adj (of or relating to Japan)
Italian
2 entries- giapponese adj (of or relating to Japan)
- nipponico adj (of or relating to Japan)
Japanese
4 entries- 和 adj (of or relating to Japan)
- 日 adj (of or relating to Japan)
- 日本 adj (of or relating to Japan)
- 日本の adj (of or relating to Japan)
Kazakh
1 entries- жапон adj (of or relating to Japan)
Khmer
1 entries- ជប៉ុន adj (of or relating to Japan)
Korean
3 entries- 왜 adj (of or relating to Japan)
- 일 adj (of or relating to Japan)
- 일본(日本)의 adj (of or relating to Japan)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- жапон adj (of or relating to Japan)
Lao
1 entries- ຍີ່ປຸ່ນ adj (of or relating to Japan)
Latin
4 entries- japonensis adj (of or relating to Japan)
- japonicus adj (of or relating to Japan)
- nipponensis adj (of or relating to Japan)
- nipponicus adj (of or relating to Japan)
Latvian
2 entries- japānisks adj (of or relating to Japan)
- japāņu adj (of or relating to Japan)
Lithuanian
2 entries- japoniška adj (of or relating to Japan)
- japoniškas adj (of or relating to Japan)
Luxembourgish
1 entries- japanesch adj (of or relating to Japan)
Macedonian
1 entries- јапонски adj (of or relating to Japan)
Malay
1 entries- Jepun adj (of or relating to Japan)
Malayalam
1 entries- ജാപ്പനീസ് adj (of or relating to Japan)
Marathi
1 entries- जापानी adj (of or relating to Japan)
Mongolian
1 entries- япон adj (of or relating to Japan)
Northern Kurdish
1 entries- japonî adj (of or relating to Japan)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- japansk adj (of or relating to Japan)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- japansk adj (of or relating to Japan)
Occitan
1 entries- japonés adj (of or relating to Japan)
Pashto
1 entries- جاپانی adj (of or relating to Japan)
Persian
1 entries- ژاپنی adj (of or relating to Japan)
Piedmontese
1 entries- giaponèis adj (of or relating to Japan)
Polish
1 entries- japoński adj (of or relating to Japan)
Portuguese
2 entries- japonês adj (of or relating to Japan)
- nipônico adj (of or relating to Japan)
Romani
1 entries- źapanikano adj (of or relating to Japan)
Romanian
1 entries- japonez adj (of or relating to Japan)
Romansch
2 entries- giapunais adj (of or relating to Japan)
- giapunaisa adj (of or relating to Japan)
Russian
1 entries- япо́нский adj (of or relating to Japan)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- jàpānskī adj (of or relating to Japan)
- ја̀па̄нскӣ adj (of or relating to Japan)
Slovak
1 entries- japonský adj (of or relating to Japan)
Slovene
1 entries- japonski adj (of or relating to Japan)
Spanish
3 entries- japonés adj (of or relating to Japan)
- nipón adj (of or relating to Japan)
- ponja adj (of or relating to Japan)
Swahili
1 entries- Kijapani adj (of or relating to Japan)
Swedish
1 entries- japansk adj (of or relating to Japan)
Tagalog
1 entries- Hapon adj (of or relating to Japan)
Tajik
4 entries- япон adj (of or relating to Japan)
- японӣ adj (of or relating to Japan)
- ҷопон adj (of or relating to Japan)
- ҷопонӣ adj (of or relating to Japan)
Thai
1 entries- ญี่ปุ่น adj (of or relating to Japan)
Tibetan
2 entries- ཉི་ཧོང adj (of or relating to Japan)
- རི་པིན adj (of or relating to Japan)
Turkish
1 entries- Japon adj (of or relating to Japan)
Turkmen
1 entries- ýapon adj (of or relating to Japan)
Ukrainian
1 entries- япо́нський adj (of or relating to Japan)
Urdu
1 entries- جاپانی adj (of or relating to Japan)
Uyghur
1 entries- ياپون adj (of or relating to Japan)
Uzbek
1 entries- yapon adj (of or relating to Japan)
Vietnamese
2 entries- Nhật adj (of or relating to Japan)
- thuộc Nhật adj (of or relating to Japan)
Volapük
1 entries- Yapänik adj (of or relating to Japan)
Yiddish
1 entries- יאַפּאַניש adj (of or relating to Japan)
Sample sentences
22 total sentences available.
A Japanese would never do such a thing.
Source: tatoeba (1529)
On May 18, a young Japanese couple was arrested after their one-year-old baby was found wrapped in a plastic bag and dumped in a gutter.
Source: tatoeba (2269)
How come you know so much about Japanese history?
Source: tatoeba (6041)
Showing 4 of 22 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "japanese"?
Closest matches include nipponese, jap, japan, japan-related, japanese language.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "japanese"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.