みなさん、こんにちは！Have you noticed that there are many expressions for 「笑い」(warai) in Japanese? You probably have heard of various onomatopoeia, but I want to show you different types of「笑い」(warai) in Japanese through this article.
This article focuses on different types of「笑い」(warai).
含み笑い – When You Contain Your Warai
含み笑い refers to ‘laughing or giggling without making a sound’.
含む means ‘to contain’ or ‘to include’. It can also mean ‘to hold in the mouth’. So, if you are holding 笑い in your mouth, it’s 含み笑い.
In manga or anime, it’s often プププ or フフフ.
薄ら笑い – That Ichimaru’s Smile
Do you know 市丸ギン (Ichimaru Gin) from Bleach? He is known for his slitted eyes and his mysterious 薄ら笑い (usura warai).
薄い (usui) means ‘thin’, or ‘weak taste’ or ‘not much of a presence’.
薄ら笑い refers to a smile created by a faint facial expression. 薄ら笑い is often to express feelings such as contempt or confusion.
In anime or manga, 薄ら笑い is often ヘヘヘ.
苦笑い – ‘Bitter Smile’
苦い (nigai) refers to ‘bitter’.
苦笑い (niga warai) refers to smiling while feeling bitter in the heart. It often shows one’s disappointment or the feeling of being bothered.
愛想笑い – Smile To Avoid The Awkwardness
愛想 (aiso) means ‘sociability’ or ‘friendliness’. If one is good at keeping a good social ‘face’ to maintain good social relationships with other people, he or she is referred to as 愛想がいい (aigo ga ii).
愛想笑い refers to a (fake) smile a person does so he/she can maintain good social relationships. For example, is you receive a gift from your friend and you really didn’t like it, you would still say thank you and smile. This is 愛想笑い.
When your boss tells you a really lame joke you would still smile, this is also 愛想笑い.
もらい笑い – Laughing Is Contagious
もらう means ‘to receive’.
もらい笑い (morai warai) refers to when you start laughing because others are laughing.
思い出し笑い – Do It When Nobody Is Around
思い出す (omoidasu) refers to ‘to recall’.
思い出し笑い (omoidashi warai) is when you remember something and start smiling or laughing because of that. It tends to happen at the most inappropriate timing.
How often do you do 思い出し笑い?
バカ笑い – When You Just Can’t Stop It
バカ refers to ‘idiot’.
バカ笑い refers to when you laugh crazily.
嘲笑い – That Annoying Guy’s Smily
嘲る (azakeru) refers to ’to ridicule’ or ‘to look down on someone’.
嘲笑い (azawarai) refers to a condescending smile/laugh.
まとめ – Summary
In this article, I introduced variety of types of 笑い. As you saw, there are many expressions for 笑い. How do you call them in your language? Do you know other 笑い expressions?
I hope you found this helpful! If you liked this post, make sure you check out other articles as well! You can also find more phrases from my twitter account. じゃあ、みなさん、さようなら！
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