kiai

K5I1A1I1
/kiːˈaɪ/

noun

The short yell or shout uttered when performing an attacking move in martial arts.

OriginJapanese 気合 →
Scrabble 8
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounkiai (plural kiais or kiai)

plural kiais

  1. The short yell or shout uttered when performing an attacking move in martial arts.

    The kiai is a battle cry to raise your battle spirit. It keeps your body in top shape, in top concentration. Different people have different kiai.

    2009, Sayem Huq, “Gemori Battousai”, in Bladin: Edge of Blade, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 24

Origin

  1. Japanese気合
  2. Englishkiai

Borrowed from Japanese 気合 (kiai).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Aiki
Cite this entry
APA

kiai. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kiai

MLA

“kiai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kiai. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kiai,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kiai.

Source: kiai on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.