How to Say "Belle" in Japanese

美女

bijo[bʲiʑo̞]

The Japanese term for 'belle' or beautiful woman is 美女 (bijo). Wiktionary also lists 美人 (bijin) and 別嬪 (beppin).

Meaning: beautiful woman (noun)

Ways to say it

“belle” in Japanese
Japanese	Romanization (Wiktionary)	IPA
美女	bijo	[bʲiʑo̞] (narrow)
美人	bijin	[bʲiʑĩɴ] (narrow) [ka̠o̞jo̞bʲito̞] (narrow)
別嬪	beppin	[be̞p̚ʲpʲĩɴ] (narrow)

These terms are used to describe a beautiful woman.

The word 美女 is composed of the characters for 'beauty' (美) and 'woman' (女).

美人 is an archaic or obsolete form, and 別嬪 is a more colloquial or old-fashioned way to refer to a beauty or a fine woman.

For a formal and poetic description, use 美しい女性. If you are speaking colloquially, you can use 別嬪. For an informal way to say 'cute girl', use かわいい子.

bijo

The term 美人 (bijin) can be pronounced as 'kaoyobito', where the characters for 'face' and 'good' are read using their Japanese meanings instead of their Chinese-derived readings.
Japanese distinguishes between 'beauty' as a physical attribute 美女 and 'cuteness' かわいい, and using the former for a young girl can sometimes feel too formal or heavy.

彼女は本当に美女です。
She is truly a beauty.
彼女は美しい女性です。
She is a beautiful woman.
あの人は本当に美人だね。
That person is really beautiful, huh.
彼女はかわいい子ですよね。
She is such a cute girl, right?
彼女は街で有名な美女だ。
Kanojo wa machi de yuumeina bijo da.
She is a famous beautiful woman in town.
あそこにいる美女は誰ですか？
Asoko ni iru bijo wa dare desu ka?
Who is that beautiful woman over there?

Youta and Himari are walking through a crowd.

陽太 Yota

見て、あそこに美女がいるよ。
Mite, asoko ni bijo ga iru yo.
Look, there is a beautiful woman over there.
陽葵 Himari

本当に綺麗ですね。
Hontou ni kirei desu ne.
She really is beautiful, isn't she?
陽太 Yota

モデルの人かな。
Moderu no hito kana.
I wonder if she's a model.
陽葵 Himari

そうかもしれませんね。
Sou kamoshiremasen ne.
That might be true.

Sources

⭐Share⭐ to appreciate human effort 🙏