shoujo ai

noun

Anime and manga that explore emotional, but largely platonic, homoerotic relationships between women.

OriginJapanese 少女愛 →
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Meanings

nounshoujo ai (uncountable)
  1. JapaneseuncountablefictionAnime and manga that explore emotional, but largely platonic, homoerotic relationships between women.
  2. JapaneseslanguncountablefictionA genre of manga, anime, or hentai featuring lesbian sex and romance; yuri.
  3. slanguncountableLolicon.

Origin

  1. Japanese少女愛
  2. Englishshoujo ai

Two connected etymologies. Either interpreted as a calque of Japanese 少女愛 (shōjo ai), or a specialized neologism created in analogy to shounen ai (Japanese 少年愛(しょうねんあい) (shōnen'ai)) using Japanese vocabulary.

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

shoujo ai. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shoujo%20ai

MLA

“shoujo ai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shoujo%20ai. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shoujo ai,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shoujo%20ai.

Source: shoujo ai on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.