This set covers 62 onomatopoeia and mimetic words (giongo and gitaigo) tested at JLPT N2, the level where the exam moves past concrete sound effects into abstract mimetic words for emotion, manner, and gradual change. Recognizing these matters for N2 specifically because native speakers lean on words like きっぱり or じわじわ instead of plain adverbs, and the exam tests exactly that kind of nuance in reading and listening sections.

This article is part of our JLPT N2 Complete Vocabulary Guide. Practice all 62 words with the Onomatopoeia Vocabulary deck in Onigiri Anki.

Nerves, Frustration & Reflection (14)

Mimetic words for inner emotional states -- nervous dread, irritation, exhaustion, and wistful reflection -- that N2 reading and conversation passages use to show how a character feels without ever naming the emotion directly.

exhausted; limpぐったりguttari

旅行のあと、ぐったりしました。 — After the trip, I was exhausted.

offended; irritatedむっとmutto

彼の失礼な言い方にむっとしました。 — I was offended by his rude way of speaking.

shudder; chillぞっとzotto

暗い廊下を歩くとぞっとしました。 — I got chills when I walked down the dark hallway.

nervously; anxiouslyひやひやhiyahiya

結果をひやひやしながら待ちました。 — I waited nervously for the result.

restlesslyそわそわsowasowa

面接の前にそわそわしました。 — I was restless before the interview.

in a huff; sulkingぷりぷりpuripuri

弟は負けてぷりぷりしていました。 — My brother sulked because he lost the game.

deeply; earnestly; wistfullyしみじみshimijimi

先生の話をしみじみと聞きました。 — I listened to the teacher's story deeply.

downcast; dejectedしょんぼりshonbori

テストのあと、学生はしょんぼりしていました。 — The student looked dejected after the test.

nervously; flutteringはらはらharahara

子どもが道を渡るのを見て、はらはらしました。 — I was nervous watching my child cross the street.

deeply; keenly; earnestlyつくづくtsukuzuku

健康がどれだけ大切か、つくづく感じました。 — I truly realized how important health is.

dropping suddenly; dejectedlyがっくりgakkuri

結果を聞いて、がっくりしました。 — When I heard the result, I felt dejected.

worn out; exhaustedくたくたkutakuta

一日中働いて、くたくたになりました。 — After working all day, I was completely exhausted.

nervously; fearfullyびくびくbikubiku

子どもはびくびくしながら周りを見ました。 — The child looked around nervously.

somberly; thoughtfully; intimatelyしんみりshinmiri

昔のことをしんみり話しました。 — We talked somberly about the old days.

Facial Expressions & Small Physical Reactions (11)

Words for the face, eyes, and mouth -- a blank stare, a smirk, a darting glance, chewing, nodding off -- used to narrate a person's reaction instead of stating the emotion outright, a common device in N2 listening dialogues.

peacefully asleepすやすやsuyasuya

赤ちゃんがすやすや眠っています。 — The baby is sleeping peacefully.

grinning; smirkingにやにやniyaniya

彼はその冗談ににやにやしていました。 — He was grinning at the joke.

looking around anxiouslyきょろきょろkyorokyoro

駅で彼はきょろきょろしていました。 — He looked around anxiously in the station.

staring intentlyまじまじmajimaji

彼女は絵をまじまじと見ていました。 — She stared intently at the painting.

glimpsing briefly; in a fleeting wayちらりchirari

人混みの中で、彼をちらりと見ました。 — I briefly caught a glimpse of him in the crowd.

blankly; absentmindedlyぽかんpokan

彼はその知らせを聞いてぽかんとしていました。 — He was blankly stunned when he heard the news.

rising up; swelling up; fluffyむくむくmukumuku

白い雲がむくむくと空にのぼっていました。 — White clouds were rising up in the sky.

blankly surprisedきょとんkyoton

彼女はきょとんとして私を見ました。 — She looked at me blankly.

nodding off; with a jerkこっくりkokkuri

会議中にこっくりこっくりしてしまいました。 — I nodded off during the meeting.

panting; puffingふうふうfuufuu

彼は走ったあと、ふうふう言って帰りました。 — He came home panting after running.

chewing; mumblingもぐもぐmogumogu

子どもがパンをもぐもぐ食べています。 — The child was chewing bread.

Weather, Wetness & Texture (13)

Describes rain, humidity, and the physical feel of surfaces or structures -- soaked, sticky, tightly packed, wobbly -- vocabulary that turns up constantly in descriptive passages and small talk about weather or objects.

soaked; dripping wetびしょびしょbishobisho

急な雨でびしょびしょになりました。 — I got soaked in the sudden rain.

shaky; wobblyぐらぐらguragura

古い橋がぐらぐらしています。 — The old bridge is shaky.

sticky; clingyべたべたbetabeta

飴を食べた後、手がべたべたになりました。 — My hands became sticky after eating candy.

tightly packedぎっしりgisshiri

箱の中に本がぎっしり入っています。 — The box is tightly packed with books.

solidly builtがっしりgasshiri

父はがっしりした体をしています。 — My father is solidly built.

pouring; heavy rainざあざあzaazaa

外はざあざあ降りです。 — It is pouring outside.

spattering; little by littleぽつぽつpotsupotsu

雨がぽつぽつ降り始めました。 — A few drops began to fall.

humid; muggyむしむしmushimushi

今日はむしむしします。 — It feels muggy today.

rattling; emptyがらがらgaragara

駅のホームはがらがらでした。 — The station platform was empty.

gloomy; overcastどんよりdonyori

一日中、空はどんよりしていました。 — The sky was gloomy all day.

stiflingly hot; thick withむんむんmunmun

部屋の中はむんむんしていました。 — The room was stiflingly hot.

gently; drowsily; simmeringとろとろtorotoro

スープがとろとろと煮えています。 — The soup is gently simmering.

hard; stiff; clatteringかちかちkachikachi

タオルが日差しでかちかちになりました。 — The towel was stiff from drying in the sun.

Pace & Manner of Action (10)

Describes how an action is carried out -- briskly, sluggishly, in a noisy scramble, little by little -- key for N2 because these words routinely replace plain adverbs like 速く or ゆっくり in natural-sounding Japanese.

efficiently; promptlyてきぱきtekipaki

彼女はいつもてきぱきと仕事を終えます。 — She always works efficiently and finishes her tasks promptly.

relaxed; freelyのびのびnobinobi

子どもたちは公園でのびのび遊びました。 — The children played freely in the park.

slowly; clumsilyもたもたmotamota

彼はもたもたしていて、遅れました。 — He was moving slowly and clumsily.

noisily; in a commotionどたばたdotabata

子どもたちが部屋でどたばたしました。 — The children ran around noisily in the room.

eagerly; in high spiritsいそいそisoiso

彼女はいそいそと旅行に出かけました。 — She left the house eagerly for the trip.

idly; lazily; drippingだらだらdaradara

日曜日は家でだらだら過ごします。 — On Sundays, I just lazily spend the day at home.

gradually; bit by bit, with growing intensityじわじわjiwajiwa

背中の痛みがじわじわひどくなっています。 — The pain in my back is getting gradually worse.

at a brisk paceすたすたsutasuta

彼は駅まですたすた歩きました。 — He walked briskly to the station.

sliding; lingering onずるずるzuruzuru

その仕事はずるずると続いています。 — The work kept dragging on.

small, quick movements; busilyちょこちょこchokochoko

弟が部屋の中をちょこちょこ動き回っています。 — My little brother is busily moving around the room.

Sudden & Fleeting Movements (7)

Single, momentary movements -- a sudden jolt, a brief glance, an abrupt stop -- frequently tested because their meanings overlap just enough to make fill-in-the-blank grammar questions genuinely tricky.

suddenlyいきなりikinari

会議中に、電話がいきなり鳴りました。 — The phone suddenly rang during the meeting.

lightly; fluttering downはらりharari

桜の花びらがはらりと落ちました。 — The cherry blossom petals fluttered down lightly.

exactly; abruptly, with a snapぴたりpitari

時計は正午にぴたりと止まりました。 — The clock stopped exactly at noon.

lightly; nimbly; suddenlyひょいとhyoito

彼女はひょいと水たまりを飛びこえました。 — She nimbly jumped over the puddle.

lightly; nimbly, flutteringひらりhirari

鳥が枝にひらりと止まりました。 — The bird fluttered lightly onto the branch.

suddenly; unexpectedlyふとfuto

ふと彼の名前を思い出しました。 — I suddenly remembered his name.

suddenly; with a joltがくんとgakunto

成績ががくんと下がりました。 — My grades suddenly dropped.

Clarity, Precision & Decisiveness (7)

Words describing something done cleanly, firmly, or exactly rather than vaguely -- common in business and formal registers on the N2 exam, where precise manner adverbs carry real weight in reading comprehension.

clearly; decisivelyきっぱりkippari

彼はその申し出をきっぱり断りました。 — He clearly refused the offer.

surely; without doubtてっきりtekkiri

彼は来るとてっきり思っていました。 — I thought for sure that he was coming.

clearly; cheerfullyはきはきhakihaki

彼女ははきはきと答えました。 — She answered clearly and cheerfully.

sharply; firmlyぴしっとpishitto

先生は静かにするよう、ぴしっと言いました。 — The teacher firmly told us to be quiet.

neatly; properlyきちんとkichinto

本をきちんと片づけてください。 — Please put the books away neatly.

roughly; coarselyざっくりzakkuri

ざっくりでいいので、見積もりをください。 — Please give me a rough estimate.

clearly; distinctlyくっきりkukkiri

ここから山がくっきり見えました。 — The mountain was clearly visible from here.

Repeated vs. Single-Instance Forms

A large share of this list follows a doubled-root pattern (XYXY) that marks a repeated, ongoing, or intensified state -- そわそわ, はらはら, どたばた, にやにや -- while the same root shortened to one syllable plus り or っと marks a single, instantaneous occurrence of that same sensation. The clearest pair in this set is はらはら (a prolonged, repeated flutter of nervous suspense) versus はらり (one light flutter, as of a leaf or a strand of hair falling). The same logic separates ぐったり (limp and drained, often from heat or illness -- a state you are in) from くたくた (worn out from sustained effort -- a state you reached through use). Spotting this reduplicated-vs-single-mora contrast is one of the fastest ways to guess an unfamiliar mimetic word's nuance on the N2 exam.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the actual difference between ぐったり and くたくた? They both seem to mean 'exhausted.'

ぐったり describes a limp, drained state, often brought on suddenly by heat, illness, or shock -- the body has gone slack, as in a child limp with fever. くたくた describes fatigue that has built up gradually from sustained physical or mental effort, like after a long day of overtime. ぐったり reads closer to 'listless and collapsed'; くたくた reads closer to 'worn out and beat.'

How do じわじわ, だらだら, and ずるずる differ? They all seem to describe something happening slowly.

じわじわ describes a gradual increase in intensity toward a clear endpoint, like pain spreading or popularity rising. だらだら describes something dragging on aimlessly with no real progress, often with a negative nuance of laziness or excess length, such as a meeting that just won't end. ずるずる describes something passively dragged out because no one takes action to stop it, like staying in a relationship or delaying a decision without ever deciding.

Practice All 62 Onomatopoeia Vocabulary Words

Import the Onomatopoeia Vocabulary deck into Onigiri Anki and master this category with spaced repetition.

Start on Web

JLPT N2 Onomatopoeia Vocabulary (2026)