sugoi
Sugoi is Japanese for “amazing” or “awesome.” Anime fans use it in English as an excited compliment, often stretched out as “sugoiii!”
What sugoi means
Wiktionary lists sugoi as fandom slang meaning amazing or awesome, used in otaku culture. Characters say it when something impresses them, and English-speaking fans borrowed it for the same purpose: a great drawing, a cool cosplay, an impressive gaming clip.
Using it in everyday English is a bit of an in-joke. Among anime fans it’s playful; outside fandom it can come across as trying too hard, part of what people tease weebs for.
Examples
- “You drew that from memory? Sugoi!”
- “Sugoiii, the new opening is incredible.”
- “He says sugoi unironically and I respect it.”
Where it came from
It’s borrowed from Japanese sugoi. Wiktionary notes the word originally meant “dreadful” or “ghastly” before its meaning flipped to something positive, a lot like English “terrific.” Its earliest English quotations come from 1990s Usenet fan groups, including a 1997 post in a Sailor Moon newsgroup.
Related terms
See more terms like this in our anime slang guide.
Example sentence
She saw the fireworks over the bay and whispered, “Sugoi.”
Similar words
amazing, awesome, daebak
Notes
Spotted a mistake, or heard sugoi used a different way? Tell us and we'll check it. Read how we write entries.