What does “雑魚” mean in English?
It's an insult for someone considered weak or insignificant. The literal translation is 'small fry,' which is fairly neutral.
Literally “small fry”
You might hear it used like calling someone a 'loser' or 'nobody' in English. It's a directed insult, typically used in casual or confrontational contexts.
Take it with you
Wear it. Stick it. Drink from it.
Put 雑魚 on a mug, a T-shirt or a sticker as Swear Atlas stamp artwork. You'll finish your order with Zazzle, our print partner — they handle payment, printing and delivery.
Adult/mature product · 18+. Purchases, delivery, returns and support are provided by Zazzle, not Swear Atlas. Availability is subject to Zazzle's policies.
Related Japanese words
お前馬鹿か
2/5 · Coarseomae baka ka
This phrase is a rhetorical insult that questions someone's intelligence, essentially asking if they are stupid.
アホ
2/5 · Coarseaho
It means idiot or fool, often used as an insult. In some contexts, it can be playful rather than harsh.
バカ
2/5 · Coarsebaka
It means 'fool' and is used to insult someone as stupid or an idiot.
ボケ
2/5 · Coarseboke
It means fool or idiot, used as an insult. It can also refer to a comedic role in Japanese entertainment.
About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
The literal gloss is a short editorial translation to show word-for-word sense, not an etymological claim.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via 4troDev/profanity.csv (MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.