What does “egui” mean? えぐい！

08/09/201607/03/2020

The word “egui” means “spicy/bitter/harsh taste” and it has been used for a long time in Japan, especially as a cooking term.

“Egui” as slang has recently been used by Japanese Youtubers and TV comedians which led to spread to the audience as well.
The slang version of “egui” has been used in everyday conversations by young people and some adults for a while now.
Maybe the “egui” you want to know is also the slang version, right?

When hearing “Egui”, many Japanese people imagine it has negative connotations, but the slang “egui” recently has been used it not only negatively but also positively.

Let’s take a closer look at “egui”.

What is “egui”? What does that mean?

In the case of slang, the meanings are like the following;

・Bad feeling
・Hard
・Tough
・Gross
・Uncomfortable
・Unpleasant
・Nasty

Although it is often used against horrible things, recently, it has more positive meanings, such as;

・ Great
・ Unique
・ Cool

Examples using ‘egui’

Anna egui koto sarete yoku okonaraine.
あんなえぐいことされてによく怒（おこ）らないね。
Why don’t you get angry with him/her as you have been treated so badly?

Kare no jouku wa egui kara kirai.
彼（かれ）のジョークはえぐいから嫌（きら）い。
I hate his jokes as they are nasty.

Uwa-, gokiburi ga shinderu! Chou egui!
Ew, there is a dead cockroach! Gross!
うわー、ゴキブリが死（し）んでる！超（ちょう）えぐい！

Kinou no horaa eiga wa egukatta.
昨日（きのう）のホラー映画（えいが）はえぐかった。
Yesterday ’s horror movie was so creepy.

Kono manga egusugiru…
この漫画（まんが）えぐ過（す）ぎる・・・。
This manga is too obscene.
This comic is too violent.
This manga is too grotesque.

Kono sumaho, atarashii kinou ga egui.
このスマホ、新（あたらい）しい機能（きのう）がえぐい。
The new features of this smartphone are too great.

Sumo tori wa futsuu no hito yori mo taberu ryou ga egui.
相撲（すもう）取（と）りは普通（ふつう）の人（ひと）よりも食（た）べる量（りょう）がえぐい。
Sumo wrestlers eat more than ordinary people.

Uwa-, kono keeki amasugi! Satou no ryou egui yone.
Gosh, this cake is too sweet! It must have lots of sugar.
うわー、このケーキ甘すぎ！砂糖の量えぐいよね。
Gosh, this cake is too sweet. This should definitely contain a lot of sugar.

Ee? Ano yama wo noboru no? Keisha ga egui wa-.
ええ？あの山（やま）を登（のぼ）るの？傾斜（けいしゃ）がえぐいわー。
What? Are we going to climb that mountain? It looks too steep.

Mou shokuba egui. Sengetsu mo zutto zangyou datta.
もう職場がえぐい。先月もずっと残業だった。
My workplace is hard. I worked overtime every day last month.

Tetsuya ake no shigoto wa egui. Furafura shite kita.
徹夜（てつや）明（あ）けの仕事（しごと）はえぐい。ふらふらしてきた。
It’s hard to work without sleeping. I’m dizzy.

Kinou no jiko genba wa hidokatta yo.
昨日（きのう）の事故現場（じこげんば）はひどかったよ。
The accident scene yesterday was terrible.

Kono takenoko egui. Oishiku nai.
このタケノコ、えぐい。美味しくない。
This bamboo shoot still has bitterness. Not tasty.

Kare no ongaku no sainou wa egui yo-. Gitaa mo piano mo hikerushi uta mo umainda yo.
彼（かれ）の音楽（おんがく）の才能（さいのう）はえぐいよー。ギターもピアノも弾（ひ）けるし歌（うた）もうまいんだよ。
He has great musical talent! He can play guitar and piano and sing well.

Kanojo no uta wa hontou ni egui! Utahime dane!
彼女（かのじょ）の歌（うた）は本当（ほんとう）にえぐい！歌姫（うたひめ）だね！
Her song is really good! She is a diva!

Okyaku no kazu egui! Kaijou ga ippai ni nacchau yo!
お客（きゃく）の数（かず）えぐい！会場（かいじょう）がいっぱいになっちゃうよ。
The number of customers! The venue will fill up.

Kongetsu no shigoto no sukejuuru ga kanari eguinda yo. Ashita wa rokuji shukkinn da yo.
今月（こんげつ）の仕事（しごと）のスケジュールがかなりえぐいんだよ。明日（あした）は 6時（じ）出勤（しゅっきん）だよ。
The schedule for this month ‘s work is so hard. I will have to work at six tomorrow.

Joshikai no wadaitte kekkou egui.
女子会（じょしかい）の話題（わだい）って結構（けっこう）えぐい。
A girls’ chat could be seriously heartless.

This word is easily used in the same way as “yabai”, which is a convenient word that can be used in various situations.

“Egui” in the Kansai area

“Egui” used in the Kansai region is used to mean “egetsunai”. It means “exceeding”, “cruel” and the like, so we can see that it has almost the same meaning as “egui” mentioned above.

It seems to be used also in the following meaning depending on the case. It is almost the same as “egui”.

・Boring
・Tired
・Great
・Amazing
・High volume
・Very steep
・Horrible
・Expensive
・Cool
・Tall or high
・Nasty … and so on.