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JLPT N4 · Verb

笑う (warau)

笑う (わらう, warau) is a Japanese verb meaning “to laugh”. It appears in JLPT N4 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading
わらう
Romaji
warau
Word class
Godan verb (う-verb) ending in う
Level
JLPT N4 (unofficial)

Meaning

  1. to laugh · godan verb, intransitive
  2. to smile · godan verb, intransitive
  3. to sneer; to ridicule · godan verb, transitive · esp. 嗤う
  4. to be dumbfounded; to be flabbergasted · godan verb, intransitive · as 笑ってしまう or 笑っちゃう

Example sentences

クラスのもの皆が彼の冗談に笑った。
The whole class laughed at his joke.
Tatoeba #225586
しかし、彼はめったに笑いませんでした。
But he did not often smile.
Tatoeba #216291
ベェーだっ！乙女のことを嗤った罰よ！
Pfft! That's what you get for laughing at a girl!
Tatoeba #76449

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Conjugation of 笑う

Godan verb (う-verb) ending in う. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

FormJapaneseReading
Dictionary笑うわらう warau
Polite (~masu)笑いますわらいます waraimasu
Negative笑わないわらわない warawanai
Polite negative笑いませんわらいません waraimasen
Past笑ったわらった waratta
Polite past笑いましたわらいました waraimashita
Negative past笑わなかったわらわなかった warawanakatta
Te-form笑ってわらって waratte
Potential笑えるわらえる waraeru
Passive笑われるわらわれる warawareru
Causative笑わせるわらわせる warawaseru
Volitional笑おうわらおう waraou
Imperative笑えわらえ warae
Conditional (~ba)笑えばわらえば waraeba

Kanji in 笑う

笑
laughショウ・わら.う・え.む · 10 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 笑う.

笑顔えがおsmiling face笑いわらいlaugh微笑むほほえむto smile微笑びしょうsmile嘲笑うあざわらうto laugh at

Source: JMdict entry 1351360 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.