How to say "hack" in Japanese

• ハック
  nounCovers the borrowed noun sense of 'hack', typically referring to a life hack or the computer-security sense. It is a loanword used in katakana contexts, so you rarely need it unless writing about such topics.
• へっぽこ
  prenominal modifier, na-adjectiveCovers the person sense of 'hack' meaning a bungler or incompetent. It describes someone untrained or useless at what they do, as in a hack writer or hack player; it does not refer to chopping or cutting.
  彼かれはへっぽこ詩人しじんだ。↗

  He is a poet of a sort.
• 叩き切るたたききる
  godan verb, transitive verbThe verb sense: to hack or chop at something such as firewood or meat, or to chop something off. Use it when someone strikes repeatedly with a blade or heavy tool.
• 駑馬どば
  nounCovers only the old literal sense of 'hack' as an inferior, worn-out horse. It is seldom the word you want for any modern use of 'hack'; it is really a horse term.
• たたっ斬るたたっきる
  godan verb, transitive verbAlso the chopping verb: to hack, chop, lop or cut something down with repeated blows. Very close in use to 叩き切る, applying to firewood, meat, or cutting something off.

Use 「叩き切る」 or 「たたっ斬る」 for physically hacking or chopping something, and 「へっぽこ」 for a bungling, incompetent person; 「ハック」 and 駑馬 are rare and mostly limited to borrowed and horse-related senses respectively.

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

• ハックhack
• へっぽこhack
• 叩き切るたたききるto hack
• 駑馬どばhack
• たたっ斬るたたっきるto hack
• 駄馬だばpackhorse