雑草
zassō[d͡za̠sːo̞ː]
The English word "weed" is translated into Japanese as 雑草 (zassō).
雑草 is a noun used to describe unwanted plants.
Meaning: unwanted plant (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word 雑草 is composed of the characters 雑, meaning miscellaneous or mixed and 草, meaning grass or herb.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the action of removing weeds, you can use several phrases. The most common way to say "to pull weeds" is to use the verb 抜く (nuku), meaning "to pull out" or "to extract", as in 雑草を抜く. You can also say 雑草をとる or use the phrase 草取りをする to describe the act of weeding.
How do you pronounce it?
zassō
Did you know?
- While 雑草 refers to a weed, the character 草 is used in the term 草生える (kusa haeru) to describe laughing at something online, similar to the English 'lol'.
- The term 草取り for weeding is often associated with 'shugyō', a form of spiritual discipline or mental training in Zen Buddhism.
- In Japan, some plants considered 雑草 are harvested as 'sansai' or mountain vegetables and used in traditional cuisine.
Examples in context
- ミントは雑草のように育ちます。Mint grows like a weed.This sentence uses 雑草 to create a simile comparing the growth of mint to a weed.Tatoeba #13569143 by small_snow, translation #7876047 by CK
- 庭の雑草を抜くTo weed the gardenThis sentence uses 雑草 to describe the action of weeding a garden.
- 雑草とはなんだろう。その美質をいまだ見出されていない植物である。What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.This sentence uses 雑草 to pose a philosophical question about the nature of weeds.Tatoeba #868159 by Scott, translation #868158 by Scott
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Misaki and Ren are working in the garden together.
- 美咲 Misaki蓮、この雑草を抜いてくれる？Ren, kono zassou o nuite kureru?Ren, can you pull this weed?
- 蓮 Renいいよ。ここにもたくさんあるね。Ii yo. Koko ni mo takusan aru ne.Sure. There are a lot of them here too.
- 美咲 Misaki雑草が伸びるのが早すぎて大変だわ。Zassou ga nobiru no ga hayasugite taihen da wa.It's tough because the weeds grow too fast.
- 蓮 Ren本当に。明日もまたやろうか。Hontou ni. Ashita mo mata yarou ka.Really. Shall we do it again tomorrow?
Sources
- Wiktionary, “weed” translations and entries 雑草, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR, Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
