ゴリラ
gorira[ɡo̞ɾʲiɾa̠]
The English word "gorilla" is translated into Japanese as ゴリラ (gorira).
ゴリラ is a noun used to refer to the ape. You might encounter this word in contexts involving a 動物園 (zoo) or a ジャングル (jungle).
Meaning: ape (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
gorira
What mistakes should you avoid?
Be careful not to confuse ゴリラ (the animal) with ゲリラ (guerrilla). In Japanese, the latter is used in terms like ゲリラ豪雨 to describe sudden, unexpected weather events such as "guerrilla rain".
Did you know?
- In Japanese social media and gaming communities, the term ゴリラ is often used as a shorthand to describe a character or player who ignores complex strategy in favor of raw, overwhelming strength.
- The word ゴリラ was borrowed from English, though it shares a root with the Greek word 'gorilla' which originally meant 'old man of the forest'.
- Because ゴリラ is a loanword, it is written using the カタカナ script rather than the native 漢字 or ひらがな systems.
Examples in context
- ココは雌のゴリラである。Koko is a female gorilla.This sentence is useful for identifying the sex of a ゴリラ.Tatoeba #224302 by bunbuku, translation #61637 by CK
- あのね、ゴリラ豪雨じゃなくて、ゲリラ豪雨だよ。ちゃんとわかってる？It's not "gorilla rain", but "guerrilla rain", do you understand?This sentence is useful for clarifying the distinction between the animal name and the term for sudden weather phenomena.Tatoeba #1687826 by bunbuku, translation #1701413 by Scott
- ゴリラは大きくて力強いです。Gorillas are big and powerful.
- 動物園で大きなゴリラを見た。Doubutsuen de ookina gorira o mita.I saw a large gorilla at the zoo.
Example conversation
Misaki and Kenta are at a zoo.
- 美咲 Misaki見て、あそこにゴリラがいるよ！Mite, asoko ni gorira ga iru yo!Look, there's a gorilla over there!
- 健太 Kenta本当だ。すごく力強そうだね。Hontō da. Sugoku chikara tsuyosō da ne.You're right. It looks very powerful.
- 美咲 Misakiゴリラはとても賢い動物らしいよ。Gorira wa totemo kashikoi dōbutsu rashii yo.I heard that gorillas are very intelligent animals.
- 健太 Kentaへえ、そうなんだ。Hee, sō nanda.Oh, is that so?
Sources
- Wiktionary, “gorilla” translations and entries ゴリラ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ゴリラ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
