One of the best known ways to say ‘shut up’ in Japanese is urusai / うるさい. This versatile word also has the definitions of ‘noisy’, ‘annoying’ and ‘irritating’ but we guarantee using urusai with a loud voice will get anyone to tone it down a little… or a lot!
There’s something about Japanese and describing things that are so loud that they are unpleasant. It probably comes from the fact that in Japan people do tend to enjoy silence and a quiet atmosphere.
You will notice that the word ‘noisy’ often crops up when we look at these words for ‘shut up’ in Japanese. That’s because anything loud and boisterous in Japan warrants a good old ‘shut up’ – whether it’s a person or an object!
So if you want to sound like a native speaker you’ll need to be able to tell anyone or anything to zip it. Whether it’s that construction work going on next door or someone disturbing the peace, here are some colourful ways to say ‘shut up’ in Japanese.
Urusai
煩い/うるさい
Shut up, noisy, annoying, irritating, loud
Urusai /うるさい is a common way to tell someone to ‘shut up’ in Japanese and can be both rude and playful.
The cool thing about urusai is that it has a few different meanings so it can be used in many contexts.
For example, if you were trying to concentrate on doing a task and you had a friend beside you who was poking fun at you, you could say urusai yo/うるさいよ to tell them ‘shut up’ or leave you alone in a joking way.
On the other hand, urusai is also the word of choice when a teacher is fed up with a noisy classroom. In this situation, it’s much more aggressive, so if a teacher says urusai yo! to the class, they’re probably a little angry.
Urusai is not only a command for someone to shut up. It can also be a statement for a person, animal or an object that is uncomfortably loud.
That’s right, you can use urusai for absolutely anything that is so noisy it makes you feel agitated. It doesn’t have to be a person; you can say urusai to express your frustration towards a pack of dogs barking or a machine.
For example, there’s a lawnmower going off close to your bedroom window and you’re trying to get some sleep. You might find relief for your frustration by growling mou urusain da yo / もううるさいんんだよ!
Men will often use the masculine slang form uruse / うるせ, instead of urusai, which makes it sound more aggressive.
Damare
だまれ
Shut up! (Shut the hell up)
Next up we have damare / 黙れ, which is pretty rude and means shut up but can also be the equivalent to shut the **** up in some cases.
Damare comes from the verb damaru / 黙る meaning ‘to be silent’ or ‘say nothing’.
Damare is considered a bad word in Japanese. Just take note that it can also be like a swear word, so be careful how you use it.
Damare is often heard in anime and manga including with its te form as in damatte! If you want to soften damare a little, you could say damatte kudasai / 黙ってください (shut up please)、but it’s still a harsh phrase because damare is impolite.
This is a word you would use if you were in a fight with someone and you really want to insult the other person.
Shizuka ni
しずかに/静かに
Be quiet
If you want to be as polite as possible when asking someone to ‘shut up’ in Japanese, you can use shizuka ni / 静かに。Shizuka means ‘quiet’ but it’s often used with the に particle and the verb for to do, suru / する.
You just add the verb suru in it’s て form to the end of the phrase, as in shizuka ni shite / 静かにして(be quiet) or shizuka ni shite kudasai / 静かにしてください (be quiet please).
A lot of parents use shizuka ni shite with children, as do teachers with students when they want to calm them down a little. You can add ne / ね to the end to make it more casual and a little softer as in shizuka ni shite ne / 静かにしてね.
You can also make shizuka ni more aggressive. If you want to say ‘shut up’ without using damare or urusai, you can use the imperative form of suru and say shizuka ni shiro! / 静かにしろ! Be careful, it’s almost just as rude though.
O-kuchi ni chakku
おくちにチャック
Zip it (literally: Zip your lips)
A cute way of saying ‘shut up’ in Japanese is o-kuchi ni chakku which means zip your lips.
Chakku means ‘zip’ and even though o-kuchi me