How to say "blur" in Japanese

• ぼかすCommon
  godan verb, transitive verbCovers deliberate blurring: softening an image, shading edges off, or gradating color. The natural choice when you blur something on purpose, as when editing a photo or painting.
  海綿かいめんは水みずを吸収きゅうしゅうしますので水彩すいさい絵具えのぐをぼかしたりする時ときに便利べんりです。↗

  Sponge absorbs water so it is convenient for shading water-colours and such.
• 不鮮明ふせんめいCommon
  nounA noun for the state of being indistinct or unclear: a photograph, image, or memory can be described this way. Use it when 'blur' names the unclear quality itself rather than an action.
• にじむJLPT N1approx.Common
  godan verb, intransitive verbIntransitive: ink or color bleeds and spreads beyond its lines, or writing smudges when it gets wet. Use this for the running, bleeding kind of blurring, not for deliberate softening.
• 曇りくもりJLPT N5approx.Common
  nounChiefly fog or condensation on glasses and mirrors, or a cloud in marble; its 'blur' sense is limited to this hazy, clouded kind, so it is seldom the word you want for blur in general.

Use 「ぼかす」 to blur something deliberately, 「にじむ」 when ink or color runs and bleeds, 不鮮明 for the state of being indistinct, and 「曇り」 only for fog- or cloud-like blurring.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• ぼかすto blur
• 不鮮明ふせんめいblur
• ぼかしblurring (e.g. of an image)
• にじみblur
• 潤みうるみblur
• ぼけblur
• にじむto blur
• 曇りくもりfog (on a mirror, glasses, etc.)
• 散るちるto spread