女たらし (onnatarashi): ‘Lady’s Man’ in Japanese

Pronunciation

Definition

女たらし (おんなたらし, onnatarashi) indicates a lady’s man who is fickle and loves being surrounded by women. Whether or not he is in a relationship, he enjoys hanging out with girls simply because he loves them. Stereotypically, 女たらし is very extroverted and knows his sh*t when it comes to flirting and fooling around with girls.

Synonyms: プレイボーイ and ヤリチン

Both “プレイボーイ (playboy)” and “ヤリチン” are also used to indicate a womanizer. Compared to 女たらし, these words typically describe a lustful man who aims to shag as many girls as possible. 女たらし, however, describes a fickle man who falls in “love” with different girls every week and tries to get intimate (emotionally and/or physically) with them.

Note that ヤリチン sounds more informal and offensive than プレイボーイ, since “チン” in ヤリチン comes from the name of male genitalia.

Word Structure

女たらし consists of the two words “女 (おんな)” and “たらし”. The former means “woman“, and the latter means “seductive“, which is only used in a few specific words such as “男おとこたらし” and “人ひとたらし” (see below). Sometimes, たらし is used as an abbreviation of 女たらし.

Related Words: 男おとこたらし and 人ひとたらし

“男たらし”, where 男（おとこ） means “a man”, is the female equivalent of 女たらし,  “a man’s lady”. On the other hand, “人たらし” has somewhat different tones and nuances from these word. Basically, 人たらし indicates a person who has an appealing personality and attracts a lot of people regardless of gender. It is often used positively to describe a successful and attractive person who has been supported by a number of people around him/her. However, some people use this word somewhat negatively when referring to such a successful or popular person. In this case, they imply their cynical or envious idea that he/she would put up a façade, and treat others well to pursue his/her success or self-interest.

Pronunciation of たらし

In a conversation, たらし is often pronounced as “ったらし (ttarashi)”, where a small tsu (っ) is inserted before the word. For instance, 女たらしand 男たらし are often pronounced as “女ったらし” and “男ったらし”, respectively.

Example Sentences

Ex1
彼かれは女たらしで浮気うわきばかりしている。
He is 女たらし(a lady’s man) and always cheats on his girlfriend.

Ex2
彼かれはいつも女おんなと楽たのしそうに喋しゃべっていて、いかにも女たらしだ。
He’s always having fun talking with girls, and is exactly 女たらし (a lady’s man)

Ex3
彼女かのじょは天性てんせいの人たらしで、誰だれとでもすぐに仲良なかよくなる
She is innately 人たらし, and gets close to anyone quickly.

Synonyms: プレイボーイ　(playboy), ヤリチン (playboy)
Synonyms in English: lady’s man, playboy, womanizer
Related words and phrases: 男おとこたらし (man’s lady), 人ひとたらし(an attractive and popular person)