Standard Lemma guide

ecchi

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɛ.tʃi/
  • General-American: /ˈɛ.tʃiː/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛtʃi

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of animation, erotic, lascivious, lewd, naughty, sexy, suggestive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Japanese

Topics: fiction, literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A genre, especially of anime and manga, featuring playful, tongue-in-cheek usage of sexualized scenes and situations such as double entendre or flirtation, while remaining non-pornographic. Often used to differentiate from hentai which features overt sexual themes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Japanese, uncountable

Topics: fiction, literature, media, publishing

Examples

  • The manga fan was disturbingly proud of his extensive ecchi collection.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A situation within a story, especially anime and manga, which ventures into the ecchi genre.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Japanese, countable, rare

Qualifier: proscribed by fandom

Topics: fiction, literature, media, publishing

Examples

  • There was a moment of ecchi for comic relief in the otherwise serious story.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Japanese エッチ (etchi, “dirty; perverted”), which is derived from English aitch (“name of the letter ⟨H⟩”), which is an initialism of the romaji of Japanese 変(へん)態(たい) (hentai, “pervert”). エッチ (etchi) is not a genre in Japanese; this is a development in English (Pseudo-Japonism), similar to that of hentai from 変(へん)態(たい) (hentai, “pervert”) above.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Esperanto: eĉio — Translations
  • French: ecchi — Translations
  • Japanese: エッチ (etchi) — Translations
  • Korean: 엣치 (etchi) — Translations
  • Marathi: एच्ची (eccī) — Translations
  • Portuguese: ecchi — Translations
  • Russian: эччи (ečči) — Translations