How to say "skeleton" in Japanese

• 骨格こっかくCommon
  nounCovers the structural sense: the skeletal framework of a body or animal, or the underlying frame of a structure. It suggests an organized supporting framework rather than bare bones.
  骨格こっかくたくましい体格たいかくなので彼かれは柔道家じゅうどうかでとおっている。↗

  With his muscular constitution he passes for a judoist.
• 骸骨がいこつCommon
  nounThe everyday word for a skeleton as an assemblage of bones, such as a human skeleton seen in a model, illustration, or Halloween decoration. This is usually the word you want for a literal skeleton.
  どこの家庭かていにも戸棚とだなに骸骨がいこつがある。↗

  Every family has a skeleton in the closet.
• 骨組みほねぐみCommon
  nounRefers to a frame or framework something is built around, whether a building under construction or the rough structure of a plan or story; 'skeleton' here is the figurative structural sense.
• 白骨はっこつCommon
  nounMeans white, bleached bones or skeletal remains, the image bones conjure after flesh is gone, as found at a scene or burial site. It is not the ordinary word for a skeleton as an object or model.
• 形骸けいがいCommon
  nounMeans an empty shell or hollow remnant of something that once had substance, such as a rule or institution that persists in form only. It is only marginally 'skeleton' and rarely the word you want.

Use 骸骨 for actual bones of a body, 骨格 for anatomical or structural frameworks, 「骨組み」 for frames of buildings or objects, 白骨 for bleached remains, and 形骸 for a mere empty shell of something.

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

• 骨格こっかくskeleton
• 骸骨がいこつskeleton
• 骨組みほねぐみskeletal frame
• 白骨はっこつwhite (bleached) bone
• スケルトンskeleton (of a vertebrate, ship, building, etc.)
• 骨幹こっかんskeleton
• 駆体くたいskeleton (of a building)
• 躯体くたいframe (of a building)
• 形骸けいがいframework (of a building, etc.)
• こつbone
• 骨付きほねつきskeletal system