雑魚

Japanese

Kanji in this term
雑	魚
ざこ
Grade: 5	Grade: 2
jukujikun

Alternative spellings
雜魚 (kyūjitai) 雑喉

Alternative forms

ざぁこ (zāko, interjection associated with the fictional メスガキ (mesugaki) trope)

Etymology

From 雑(ざっ)喉(こう) (zakkō).^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ざこ [záꜜkò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]
IPA^(key): [d͡za̠ko̞]

(Tokyo) じゃこ [jáꜜkò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]
IPA^(key): [d͡ʑa̠ko̞]

(Tokyo) ざっこ [záꜜkkò] (Atamadaka – [1])
IPA^(key): [d͡za̠k̚ko̞]

Noun

雑魚(ざこ) or 雑魚(じゃこ) or 雑魚(ざっこ) • (zako or jako or zakko)

small fry, small, worthless fishes, coarse fishes with low market value
(figuratively) a weak or useless person, a noob

Derived terms

雑魚(ざこ)寝(ね) (zakone)
縮(ちり)緬(めん)雑魚(じゃこ) (chirimen jako)
雑魚(ざこ)キャラ (zako kyara)
雑魚(ざこ)キャラクター (zako kyarakutā)

Descendants

→ Chinese: 雜魚 / 杂鱼 (záyú)

References

“〈雑魚〉”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN