悪人
akunin[a̠kɯ̟ɲ̟ĩɴ]
The English phrase 'bad person' is translated into Japanese as 悪人 (akunin).
悪人 refers to a person who is morally wrong or commits evil acts. It is often used to describe a villain or a person of bad character, frequently appearing in news reports or storytelling.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of the kanji 悪, meaning 'bad' or 'evil' and 人, meaning 'person'.
Which one should you use?
Other variations include 邪悪な人 for a 'wicked person', 最低な奴 for 'the worst guy', ろくでなし for a 'good-for-nothing' and the strongly derogatory term クソ野郎 which means 'shit guy'.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
悪人 is a relatively formal or literary term. For formal contexts, you might use 邪悪な人 to mean 'wicked person'. In contrast, 最低な奴 and クソ野郎 are informal, with the latter being a strong insult. ろくでなし is a colloquial term.
How do you pronounce it?
akunin
Did you know?
- While 悪人 describes a moral villain, the term ろくでなし specifically implies a person who is useless to society, coming from an old word for a 'proper' or 'standard' scale.
- The term 悪役 (akuyaku) is used to describe the 'bad person' in stories, but it can also describe someone who plays the 'villain' in a social situation to maintain harmony or fulfill a specific role.
- The kanji 悪 in 悪人 can be read as 'aku' for 'evil' but as 'waru' in other contexts, changing the nuance from a cosmic or criminal evil to a simple lack of goodness.
Examples in context
- この人は悪人だと思いますか？Do you think this person is a bad person?
- はい、彼は邪悪な人です。Yes, he is a wicked person.
- もう、最低な奴だよ。Ugh, he's such a terrible guy.
- 彼は歴史に残る悪人だ。Kare wa rekishi ni nokoru akunin da.He is a bad person who will go down in history.
- 悪人はいつか必ず捕まる。Akunin wa itsuka kanarazu tsukamaru.A bad person will always be caught eventually.
- 物語に出てくる悪人を倒す。Monogatari ni detekuru akujin o taosu.Defeat the bad person appearing in the story.
Example conversation
Misaki and Yota are discussing a movie they just watched.
- 美咲 Misakiこの映画の悪人はひどいね。Kono eiga no akunin wa hidoi ne.The bad person in this movie is terrible, isn't he?
- 陽太 Yotaそうだね。でも、理由があるよ。Sō da ne. Demo, riyū ga aru yo.True. But he has a reason.
- 美咲 Misaki理由があっても悪人だよ。Riyū ga atte mo akunin da yo.Even with a reason, he's still a bad person.
- 陽太 Yotaまあ、そういうことだね。Mā, sō iu koto da ne.Well, I guess that's how it is.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 悪人, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
