How to say "solid" in Japanese

Choosing the right word
  • 硬いかたいJLPT N4approx.Common
    i-adjectiveDescribes things that feel hard and firm to the touch: hard bread, stiff muscles, frozen ground. The basic adjective for the sense of 'solid' that means hard rather than sturdily built.
    卵たまごは硬かたくゆでてください。↗
    Boil the eggs hard.
  • 頑丈がんじょうJLPT N1approx.Common
    na-adjective, nounCovers 'solid' meaning sturdily built and resistant to breakage — solid furniture, a solidly built house — and, of people, stout or burly. The word for robust construction rather than surface hardness.
    これは掛かけるのにたいそう頑丈がんじょうないすだ。↗
    This is a very sturdy chair to sit in.
  • がっちりJLPT N1approx.Common
    adverb (with と), suru verbA mimetic word for a solid, robust, well-built frame; typically describes a person's sturdy physique. Its vivid, sound-symbolic flavor sets it apart from plain adjectives.
    彼かれは背せが高たかく骨組ほねぐみのがっちりした人ひとだ。↗
    He is a tall and strongly built man.
  • 固形こけいCommon
    no-adjectiveA noun meaning a solid body or solid matter, found mainly in technical descriptions of substances; it is not the way to describe something as hard to the touch.
  • 固体こたいJLPT N1approx.Common
    no-adjectiveThe noun for a solid as a state of matter, contrasted with liquids and gases; also covers solid-state in scientific usage. The 'solid' of physics, not of texture or build.
    固体こたいが解とけると液体えきたいになる。↗
    When a solid melts, it becomes liquid.

Use 「硬い」 for things that feel hard to the touch, 頑丈 or 「がっちり」 for sturdily built objects and people, and the nouns 固形 and 固体 for solid matter, with 固体 the scientific state-of-matter term.

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

Japanese equivalents
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JLPT vocabulary levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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