yokai

Y4O1K5A1I1

noun

Any of various supernatural monsters, sometimes shapeshifters, in Japanese folklore.

OriginJapanese 妖怪 ← Middle Chinese 妖怪 →
RareScrabble 12
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Meanings

nounyokai (plural yokai or yokais)

plural yokais · alternative yōkai · alternative youkai

  1. JapaneseartsAny of various supernatural monsters, sometimes shapeshifters, in Japanese folklore.

    Earl didn’t know all the details about what that type of yokais’ powers were, her mother kept the family secrets close to the vest, and he knew even less about which of those powers had gotten passed onto her half-human offspring.

    2021, Larry Correia, chapter 6, in Monster Hunter Bloodlines (Monster Hunters International; 9), Riverdale, N.Y.: Baen Books, →ISBN

Origin

  1. Middle Chinese妖怪
  2. Japanese妖怪“ghost, phantom, monster”
  3. Englishyokai

Borrowed from Japanese 妖怪 (yōkai, “ghost, phantom, monster”), from Middle Chinese 妖怪 ('jew kweajᴴ) with the similar meaning.

More words from Japanese, Middle Chinese

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 妖怪, 日本妖怪
  • 妖怪 (yāoguài)Japanese monster
  • 日本妖怪 (Rìběn yāoguài)Japanese monster
French yokai
  • yokaiJapanese monster
Japanese 妖怪, 日本の妖怪
  • 妖怪 (yōkai)Japanese monster
  • 日本の妖怪Japanese monster
Polish yōkai
  • yōkaiJapanese monster

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

okiya
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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