There are a lot of different onomatopoeic or mimetic words in Japanese, so words that mimic the sound or the feeling of something. One subcategory of those gives me lots of trouble: 4 letter words with a small つ at the second position. I did expect to find more, but there are still quite a few of them.
As you can see in the letter distributions, nearly all of them also end in り. The third letter doesn’t have a lot of variance either, with 6 characters being in about half of the words.
This results in many of these words being very similar, making it, in my experience, hard to learn and differentiate them.
I believe, that most of these words are 擬態語, though I have neither checked every single one, nor am I confident that I understand the different onomatopea/mimetic classes well enough (for example, I believe something like ドッキリ is a 擬情語?). This isn’t super important to me though, but it would be nice to know! The dictionary just classifies them all as onomatopoeic or mimetic words.
Words in the list are sorted according to one frequency measure, with the more frequent ones coming first.
If you just want to see the list of words without meaning, have a look here: List
Limitiations
There is very limited processing during the generation and as such there are some limitations to keep in mind.
First of all, this list was created by a non-linguist Japanese learner based on things I found interesting or difficult during learning and might contain inaccuracies due to ignorance.
Similarly, while the entries are sorted by the frequency (according to the nfxx field) of the associated entry. This is neither the only nor the most sophisticted order. This only influences the list order though, so this shouldn’t cause any issues.
Only words tagged as “onomatopoeic or mimetic word” were considered, as otherwise words like 学校 would also fit the criterion. This might lead to missing words, but the number of untagged words is probably low.
Word list
Total number of entries considered: 208954
Total number of onomatopoeic or mimetic words: 1217
ger:(1) etw. ohne es zu wollen, tun, (2) unvorsichtig handeln, (3) versehentlich etw. machen, (4) aus Zerstreutheit, (5) aus Gedankenlosigkeit, (6) aus Unvorsichtigkeit, (7) ohne Absicht, (8) ohne es zu wollen, (9) unbewusst, (10) aus Versehen, (11) versehentlich
eng:(1) to be disappointed, (2) to be dejected, (3) to be downhearted, (4) to be discouraged, (5) to be disheartened, (6) to lose heart, (7) to feel let down, (8) to feel exhausted, (9) to feel drained
ger:(1) entmutigt werden, (2) enttäuscht werden, (3) niedergeschlagen sein, (4) entmutigt, (5) enttäuscht, (6) niedergeschlagen
eng:(1) to be disheartened, (2) to be dejected, (3) to be discouraged, (4) to be disappointed, (5) suddenly (losing a lot of weight), (6) looking emaciated, (7) becoming very thin
17. こっそり
ger:(1) heimlich, (2) verborgen, (3) im Verborgenen, (4) verstohlen
ger:(1) sich erfrischt fühlen, (2) sich erleichtert fühlen, (3) sich erquickt fühlen, (4) einfach, (5) rundweg, (6) überhaupt nicht, (7) durchaus nicht, (8) nicht im Geringsten, (9) nicht im Mindesten, (10) alles andere als, (11) nicht im Entferntesten
eng:(1) feeling refreshed, (2) feeling relieved, (3) neat, (4) tidy, (5) clean, (6) frank, (7) open-hearted, (8) plain, (9) simple, (10) light, (11) completely, (12) entirely, (13) not in the least (with neg. verb), (14) not at all, (15) nothing at all, (16) completely useless, (17) hopeless, (18) awful
21. しっくり
ger:(1) exakt, (2) aufs Genaueste, (3) bis aufs Haar, (4) wie angegossen
eng:(1) exactly, (2) nicely, (3) to a tee, (4) to be fitting
22. じっくり
ger:(1) ordentlich, (2) gründlich, (3) bedachtsam, (4) reiflich, (5) sorgfältig, (6) in aller Ruhe
eng:(1) all, (2) completely, (3) totally, (4) entirely, (5) thoroughly
24. すっきり
ger:(1) frisch, (2) klar, (3) schön, (4) sich frisch fühlen, (5) sich wohl fühlen, (6) frisch, (7) klar, (8) schön
eng:(1) refreshingly, (2) with a feeling of relief, (3) pleasantly, (4) (a weight) off one’s shoulder, (5) shapely, (6) neatly, (7) refinedly, (8) cleanly, (9) without trouble, (10) clearly, (11) plainly, (12) distinctly, (13) completely, (14) thoroughly, (15) not at all (with negative sentence), (16) not even slightly
25. すっぱり
ger:(1) gänzlich, (2) vollkommen, (3) glatt
eng:(1) completely (quitting, etc.), (2) entirely, (3) thoroughly, (4) totally, (5) wholly, (6) resolutely, (7) decisively, (8) flatly, (9) firmly, (10) without hesitation, (11) cleanly (cutting, snapping off, etc.), (12) in a single blow
26. ずっしり
ger:(1) schwer, (2) dick und schwer
eng:(1) heavily, (2) profoundly
27. そっくり
ger:(1) alle, (2) alles, (3) insgesamt, (4) genau so aussehen, (5) wie …, (6) ein Ebenbild sein von …
eng:(1) all, (2) altogether, (3) entirely, (4) completely, (5) exactly alike (e.g. in appearance), (6) spitting image of, (7) identical, (8) strikingly similar
28. たっぷり
ger:(1) reichlich, (2) genügend, (3) eine Menge sein, (4) reichlich, (5) gut, (6) genügend, (7) voll, (8) völlig, (9) in Hülle und Fülle, (10) sehr, (11) außerordentlich, (12) ausgesprochen
eng:(1) plentifully, (2) amply, (3) abundantly, (4) copiously, (5) generously, (6) fully, (7) a lot, (8) loosely, (9) with room to spare, (10) with enough space, (11) (large) enough, (12) a good (e.g. two weeks, ten kilometres), (13) a full, (14) at least, (15) no less than
eng:(1) clearly, (2) plainly, (3) distinctly, (4) to be clear, (5) to be definite, (6) to be certain, (7) to be exact, (8) to become clear, (9) to clear up
ger:(1) hochauftürmend, (2) sexuell erregt sein (Mann)
eng:(1) bulging (esp. of male genitals under clothing)
43. ゆっくり
ger:(1) langsam, (2) gemächlich, (3) sich Zeit lassen, (4) es ruhig angehen lassen, (5) langsam, (6) allmählich, (7) schrittweise, (8) ohne Eile, (9) ohne Hast, (10) zögernd, (11) schleppend, (12) mit Muße, (13) in aller Ruhe, (14) mit viel Zeit, (15) bequem, (16) gemütlich, (17) behaglich, (18) ruhig, (19) zwanglos
eng:(1) slowly, (2) unhurriedly, (3) without haste, (4) leisurely, (5) at one’s leisure, (6) easily (e.g. in time), (7) well, (8) sufficiently, (9) amply, (10) with time to spare, (11) well (e.g. sleep), (12) comfortably
44. びっくり
ger:(1) sich erschrecken, (2) sich entsetzen, (3) überrascht werden, (4) verblüfft werden, (5) bestürzt werden, (6) baff werden, (7) erstaunen, (8) sich wundern, (9) Erschrecken, (10) Verblüffung, (11) Erstaunen, (12) Überraschung
eng:(1) to be surprised, (2) to be amazed, (3) to be frightened, (4) to be astonished, (5) to get startled, (6) to jump, (7) surprise (e.g. surprise party)
ger:(1) mit einem Knall, (2) mit einem Schlag, (3) plötzlich, (4) unvermutet, (5) auf einmal, (6) zufällig, (7) unerwartet, (8) plumsend, (9) mit einem Plumps
eng:(1) with a clash, (2) with a thud, (3) with a bang, (4) with a flop, (5) plump, (6) unexpectedly (meeting someone), (7) suddenly (ending), (8) abruptly (coming to a halt)
51. ぺったり
ger:(1) klebrig, (2) zäh, (3) dickflüssig, (4) plumps, (5) klebrig, (6) zäh, (7) dickflüssig, (8) plumps, (9) sich mit einem Plump setzend
eng:(1) totally (immersed in something, e.g. liquid, work), (2) addicted
67. ぽっくり
ger:(1) plötzlich, (2) auf einmal, (3) unerwartet
eng:(1) (dying) suddenly, (2) (breaking) brittly, (3) with a snap, (4) softly and swellingly
68. ごっそり
ger:(1) alles, (2) restlos, (3) bis aufs letzte
eng:(1) completely, (2) entirely, (3) all, (4) in large amounts, (5) a lot
69. かっきり
ger:(1) pünktlich, (2) genau, (3) exakt
eng:(1) exactly, (2) just, (3) precisely, (4) punctually, (5) exactly on time, (6) clearly delineated (of boundaries, etc.)
70. どっかり
ger:(1) sich plötzlich verändernd, (2) sich schwer hinsetzend, (3) rumpelnd (weil etwas schweres bewegt wird)
eng:(1) plunking (down something heavy), (2) flumping (into a chair)
71. ふっくら
ger:(1) weich und voll, (2) voll
eng:(1) fully, (2) luxuriantly, (3) fluffy, (4) plump, (5) soft and full
72. ほっこり
ger:(1) weich und warm, (2) angenehm warm, (3) mollig, (4) heiß und flockig (gekocht), (5) gebackene Süßkartoffel
eng:(1) warm and fluffy, (2) soft, (3) steamy hot (food), (4) hot and flaky, (5) feeling mentally tired, (6) feeling of tired relief or accomplishment after effort or perseverance
ger:(1) entschlossen, (2) entschieden, (3) insgesamt, (4) ein für alle mal, (5) Ton, wenn ein Faden reißt, (6) Reißen eines Fadens, (7) plötzlich endend
eng:(1) (breaking) with a snap (of a thread, rope, etc.), (2) (stopping) suddenly (of communications, a practice, etc.), (3) abruptly, (4) completely, (5) once and for all
eng:(1) completely submerged (e.g. in water), (2) completely soaked (e.g. with rain)
119. がったり
eng:(1) suddenly (esp. falling), (2) dramatically
120. ぎっくり
eng:(1) with surprise, (2) with a start
121. ぶっつり
eng:(1) (breaking) with a snap (of a rope, string, etc.), (2) stabbing (with a knife, etc.)
122. もったり
ger:(1) schaumig geschlagen, (2) dick aufgeschlagen
eng:(1) thickly (of whipped eggs, cream, etc.; such that it leaves a trail or forms soft peaks), (2) stickily, (3) becoming thick and foamy (of soap suds), (4) sluggishly, (5) slowly, (6) heavily