Urusai meaning with 30+ examples from Japanese anime & real life

The word “urusai” in Japanese is a way to say that someone or something is being noisy or disruptive. If someone says it directly to another person, the implication is that they are telling them to “be quiet”, so it is often translated as “shut up” in English (I’ve done a whole post about how to say shut up in Japanese). This is generally a fair translation, but not a literal one, because if you say to someone “urusai” you are literally saying “(you’re) noisy”.

But the word urusai is actually very interesting because it has quite a few different, but related, meanings that it gets used in though.

If urusai meant only “noisy” then how can this sentence make sense:

髪が伸びて煩い。

kami ga nobite urusai

My hair is so urusai.

You can see from this example that urusai is used in a larger range of meanings than English words like “noisy”.

These meanings are not necessarily intuitive to the non-native speaker. These meanings and concepts conflate the ideas of “noisiness” with a myriad of mostly negative feelings including irritation, annoyance, and overbearingness.

I say “mostly negative” because urusai can even have positive meanings. Urusai can be positive in the same way that saying “she is particular about taking care of her things” would generally be considered a flattering statement.

Isn’t interesting how different cultures see the world, and how language shapes our view of our environment?

What Does Urusai Mean?

The main meanings of the Japanese word Urusai in English are:

1. Noisy, loud

2. annoying, irritating, overbearing, persistent, nagging

3. Fussy, picky, bossy, particular

4. shut up, be quiet, shut it.

Let’s take a look at some examples of urusai being used in each of these meanings.

Urusai as “Noisy”

This is the most common way that you hear the word used, and consequently the meaning that most people first learn for the word.

Here are a few examples:

その煩い音楽には我慢できない。

sono urusai ongaku ni wa gaman dekinai

I can’t stand this loud music.

うるさくて考えられない。

urusakute kangaerarenai

It’s so noisy I can’t think.

牛がうるさい。

ushi ga urusai

The cows are noisy

Urusai as “annoying“

Urusai also takes on the general meaning of anything that gets on your nerves:

うるさい少年

Urusai shonen

An annoying boy.

元彼女がしつこくつきまとってきて煩い。

Moto kanojo ga shitsukokutsukimatottekite urusai

My ex-girlfriend keeps hanging around and being annoying.

ハエはうるさいものだ

Hae wa ursai mono da

Flys are annoying.

Urusai as “Picky”

This meaning of urusai as nitpicking or being finicky about something is a little less simple to grasp. But it makes sense when you think about people that are picky about stuff, they usually have a lot to say, and to tell you. In this sense, they come across as “the loudest voice in the room”.

Here are some examples of urusai in this context.

彼女は食べ物にうるさい

Kanojyo wa tabemono ni urusai

She is a fussy eater.

彼は時間に煩い。

Kare wa jikan ni urusai

He is particular about punctuality.

規制がうるさい

Kisei ga urusai

The rules are strict.

世間がうるさい

Seken ga urusai

People are judgemental

Urusai as “Shut Up“

Urusai can mean “shut up” in some contexts. For example:

今すぐ出て行かないと。。。

Ima sugu dete ikanai to

If you don’t leave right now…

うるさい！

urusai

Shut up!

But does Urusai Really Mean Shut Up?

Urusai can be used to convey something like “shut up” in Japanese. It literally means more like “you’re noisy” or “you’re annoying”. So in this way, it is not a directly imperative statement like “shut up”, where you are directly telling someone to do something.

So, in this way, urusai is probably closer to statements like:

“you’re such a big mouth”

or

“What a windbag”

than it directly is to “shut up”.

A more direct translation of shut up is:

黙れ damare

Shut up, be quiet.

In this word, you are literally giving someone a command to “be quiet”.

This makes it a stronger word than urusai and, thus, closer in tone to “shut up”.

How offensive is it to say urusai to someone?

To cut someone off in mid-sentence by saying “urusai” is generally pretty offensive.

Yet you find it used in Japanese a lot more than a phrase like “shut up” in English because it is often used in a humorous, tongue-in-cheek way.

Urusai pronunciation

Here is a male voice saying urusai

and a female voice:

Urusei meaning

うるせえ　Urusei or urusee is a more colloquial and “biting” way of pronouncing the word urusai, meaning “shut up” or “you’re annoying me”.

Pronouncing the word with more of an e sound than an i sound gives the word more of a tough, or masculine tone.

We do similar things in English when we say “I’m gonna getcha” as opposed to “I’m going to get you”.

So urusei and urusai are essentially the same word, but urusei generally sounds more aggressive than urusai.

Examples of Urusai in anime and manga

Welcome to the Ballroom (ボールルームへようこそ) – Tatara Fujita (富士田多々良 )

「知るか、僕はね頭が悪いんだよ」

Shiruka, boku wa ne atama ga waruin da yo

Don’t you know, I’m really a bit of a dummy!

ごちゃごちゃうるさいのだ！

Gocha gocha urusai no da

Quit your grumbling!

AKIRA (アキラ )

うるさい！俺に命令するな

Urusai! Ore ni meirei suruna

Shut it! Don’t try and give me orders.

かぐや様は告らせたい～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦 Kaguya Sama Love is War

うるさいなぁ　ぶっころすよ

Surusai naa bukkorsuyo

What a pain in the butt. I’m going to destroy you.

Demon Slayer (鬼滅の刃)

「うるさいよ。このくらいで死にはしないだろ、鬼なんだから」

Urusai yo. Kono kurai shi ni wa shinai daro, oni nan dakara

Clam it! It’s not like something like this would kill you, you know you’re a demon right?

Serial Experiments Lain (玲音)

｢….うるさいなぁ….黙ってられないの….？｣

urusaina…damatterarenaino…?

You’re so annoying…can’t you just shut your big gob?

Gintama (銀魂)

あぁ!?ぎゃあぎゃあうるさいジジイアルネ!!

Aa!? Gyaagyaa urusai jiji arune

What? We seem to have a whinging old man here.

Hori san to Miyamura kun (堀さんと宮村くん)

いい人とか悪気がないとかあまり関係ないから、あと声がうるさい人も…

Ii hito toka warugi ga nai to ka amari kannkei nai kara, ato koe ga ursai hito mo

I don’t care if they’re nice, or they don’t have any bad intentions, or if they speak loudly

Damare vs. Urusai

Damare is a more direct way of saying “shut up” than urusai. Damare literally means “be quiet” and is a command. Urusai is literally saying “you’re noisy”, so is not directly telling someone to shut up.

Urusai – Noisy in Japanese Kanji

The Kanji used for Urusai is

煩い

Interestingly, the kanji has an alternative reading of

わずらい　wazurai or, as a verb, わずらう　wazurau

This word has the meanings of:

1. to be ill; to suffer from​

2. to worry about; to be concerned about

3. to have trouble doing …; to be unable to …; to fail to …

This helps you get a more full and nuanced understanding of the word “Urusai” and its relationship to various negative things, including sickness.

Interestingly, there is another way of writing urusai in kanji:

五月蠅い

These kanji literally mean “flys in May”.

Could there possibly be anything more annoying, and indeed, noisy!

You can see how simply translating “urusai” as “noisy”, or the imperative “shut up” is not always appropriate and there is a whole lot of nuance required.

Using “Urusai” in a playful or humorous way

One of the reasons you so often hear the word urusai in Japanese is that it is often used in a tongue-in-cheek way. This means that the word also often finds its way into anime and manga, which is where many Western people first come across the word.

So, in a playful context of back and forth banter you might hear something like:

ジョンさんはモテモテね。

Jyon san wa motemote ne

Aren’t you just the stud, John?

うるさい！

Urusai!

Put a sock in it!

Here you can see that person A is gently teasing person B, who is giving person A a light retort urusai in return.

How to say urusai politely

Using urusai as a way of asking someone to “please be quiet” is pretty intense, and not recommended. If you just wanted to ask someone to tone it down a little bit you should use something like:

静かにしてください 

Shizuka ni shite kudasai

Please be quiet.

Even that is pretty direct though. So you might want to soften things up more by saying something like.

もうちょっと静かにしていただけませんか。

Mo chotto shizuka ni shite itadakemasenka

Would you mind keeping it down for me a little?

There you go, much less confronting!

Who uses “Urusai”

The word urusai, and its variation urusei can be used, for example, by children, teachers, or parents to tell other people to quiet down. Parents might use this word when their children are making too much noise playing outside.

But really, in its range of meanings, the word urusai is used by all walks of life.

Past Tense of Urusai

Past tense of urusai is urusakatta.

Other Japanese words with similar meanings to urusai

喧しい yakamashii

Noisy, boisterous

煩雑 hanzatsu

Complex, bothersome

面倒 menndou

Annoying, a pain

厄介 yakkai

A bother, a nuisance

黙れ　damare

Be quiet! Shut up!

In conclusion, urusai is a common word in the Japanese culture. The word has multiple meanings and connotations that represent several different but related ideas.

It is most often used to describe someone who is making a lot of noise, such as a crying baby at the grocery store, or someone talking loudly on their phone while waiting for an elevator.

Additionally, urusai can be translated to mean the act of being rude or simply obnoxious.

Urusai is a word that has a high degree of potential for using badly, and really getting a person’s now out of joint. Couple this with the fact that the word is actually quite frequently used, and you have a piece of vocab that any Japanese learner will want to cross off their list of “thoroughly learned and understood” words pretty quick-smart!