悩殺 (nousatsu) : Japanese Word for “Mind-Killing” Sexy Girls

Pronunciation

Definition

Whenever seeing a stunning and sexy girl, a man always feels over the moon, being dazzled by her smokin’ sexy body. If you want to describe such a hot girl in Japanese,  ‘悩殺 (のうさつ, nousatsu)’ is the perfect word: the first kanji character ‘悩 (のう)’ means ‘perplex/bewilder’ and ‘殺 (さつ)’ means ‘kill’. As you might guess, it describes a mind-blowing seductive girl that ‘bewilders’ a myriad of men and ‘kills’ their mind off, leaving them unable to think of anything but her.

This word is often used to illustrate female celebrities, bikini models, actress or certain kinds of ‘performers’, especially when they advertise their products, events, or performances. Obviously, the tone of the word is quite light and saucy, meaning it would not be a nice word to use for flattering your boss or supervisor.

Usage and Grammar

悩殺 is used as a verb or adjective in a unique way: it is used as itself and does not inflect. When used as an adjective, it is simply put before a noun, as in ‘悩殺ボディー’ meaning ‘悩殺 (seductive sexy) body’ and ‘悩殺スマイル’ meaning ‘悩殺 (captivating) smile’. When used as a verb, it is usually put at the end of a sentence, as in ‘ビキニにエプロン姿（すがた）でファンを悩殺’ meaning ‘Wearing a bikini with an apron on top 悩殺 (excited) her fans’. Sometime, it is also used with ‘する’ with its inflection form,  like ‘かわいいコスプレで世(よ)の男性（だんせい）を悩殺した’ meaning ‘Her cute cosplay 悩殺した (fascinated) men in the world’.

忙殺 (ぼうさつ) and 黙殺 (もくさつ)

As in 悩殺, both 忙殺 (ぼうさつ) and 黙殺 (もくさつ) are other advanced words that use ‘殺 (kill)’ in a figurative way. In these words, 殺(さつ) is used to indicate that something is of the extreme degree. For instance, 忙殺 means ‘extremely busy’, where 忙(ぼう) means ‘busy’. The second word 黙殺 means ‘ignore something/someone completely (, knowing that they are worth a close look) ‘, where 黙 means ‘silent’.

Example Sentences

(1) 彼女 かのじょの悩殺セクシーボディーにファンは夢中むちゅう！
(Her) fan is enthralled by her 悩殺(stunning) sexy body!

(2) セクシーダンスで観客かんきゃくを悩殺！
(Her) sexy dance 悩殺 (captivated) the audience.

Synonyms

Synonyms: エロい (erotic, hot)、セクシー (sexy)
Synonyms in English: stunning, sexy, hot, fascinating, enchant, captivate
Related words and phrases: 悩(なや)ます perplex, 殺(ころ)す kill

See also

変態 (Hentai): Original Meaning of ‘Hentai’ in Japanese