How to say "stature" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 背せいnounA person's height or stature: what you have in mind when you call someone tall or short. It treats the body's height as an attribute rather than a number.
- 身長しんちょうnounA person's height treated as a measurement: the word for asking about, recording, or comparing how tall someone is in concrete figures. Choose it whenever a number is involved.
- 丈たけnounHeight in the broadest sense: it can describe a person's stature but also the height of plants and other growing things. When you mean a person specifically, 背 or 背丈 point straight there.
- 背丈せたけnounA person's stature — how tall the body stands, from feet to head. In descriptions of people it sits very close to 背, and either serves for saying that someone is tall or short.
- 上背うわぜいnounStature viewed from the neck up: it suggests that someone looks tall because of the height of the head and neck, rather than stating an overall measurement.
For a measured height use 身長; for how tall a person is, choose 背 or 背丈; 丈 covers height broadly, including plants; 上背 stresses the neck-up impression of tallness.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
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