Cho/chou kawaii? What is the definition? Meaning Hiragana Kanji 超かわいい

“Cho / chou kawaii （ちょうかわいい：超可愛い）”!

Have you ever heard Japanese say this in conversations, TV shows, movies, manga, or anime?

“Cho / chou kawaii” is a phrase and it is said that it began to be used around 1990.
This was originally a youth language, but those young people at that time are now adults, so this word has been used not only by current young people but also by some adults.

About the words of “cho / chou kawaii”, it would be a good idea to first divide this phrase into “cho / chou” and “kawaii” and know each meaning separately.

What does this “cho / chou kawaii” mean?

First, let’s look at the meaning of “cho / chou”.

This is a part of speech that usually precedes a noun.
That means something is bigger or bigger than usual, such as super, ultra, very, extremely or extraordinary.

For example,
“Chou-tokkyu (超特急：super express)”
“Choujin (超人：superman)”
“Cho-onsoku (超音速：supersonic)”
“Choetsu (超越：transcendental)”
“Chouka (超過：excess)”

This “cho / chou” is supposed to be used along with nouns in its original usage, but because it has been used so often in Japan, adjectives and verbs are also used with it recently.

In order to write that word, the kanji “超r” was written, but gradually (in the latter half of the 1990s), ‘”チョー” in katakana became also popular to be written.

What does kawaii mean?

Next, let’s look at the meaning of “kawaii”.

Kawaii means “cute.”
It also means lovely, pretty, adorable, darling and the like.

From the above, “cho / chou kawaii” means “very cute” or “super cute.”

As mentioned earlier, young people in the 90s are now adults, and children and some adults use “cho / chou” frequently in their conversations.

“Cho / chou” is a useful slang, as it has been used in conjunction with various words now.
Also, because it can be used easily and quickly, it is also used as an exclamation.

超かわいい！ Cho kawaii! — So cute!
超うれしい！ Cho ureshii! — So happy!
超おいしい！ Cho oishii! — So delicious!
超暑い。 Cho atsui! — So hot! (temperature)
超寒い。 Cho samui! — So cold! (tempereture) or, So boring (at somebody’s joke).
超むかつく。 Cho mukatsuku! — So irritating.
超イラつく。 Cho iratsuku! — So irritating.
超腹減った。 Cho harahetta! — So hungry.
超きれい。 Cho kirei! — So beautiful/pretty.
超かっこいい。 Cho kakkoii! — So cool. So handsome.
超やばい。Cho yabai. — So dangerous. or So cool.
超うざい。Cho uzai. — So annoying.
超きもい。Cho kimoi. — So disgusting.
超きしょい。Cho kishoi. — So disgusting.
超えもい。Cho emoi — So emotional and nostalgic.
超イケてる。Cho iketeru. — So cool.