How to say "teacher" in Japanese

• 先生せんせいJLPT N5approx.Common
  nounThe everyday word for a teacher, covering schoolteachers and also masters of an art; it doubles as a respectful title or form of address.
  われわれの先生せんせいは真しんの意味いみで紳士しんしです。↗

  Our teacher is a gentleman in the true sense of the word.
• 教師きょうしJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounThe word for teaching as an occupation: someone who teaches for a living, especially at a school. It describes what a person does and is not used to address them.
  私の兄あには教師きょうしです。↗

  My older brother is a teacher.
• 師匠ししょうCommon
  noun, suffixA master or mentor under whom one studies a craft, art, or trade — an apprenticeship-style teacher rather than a schoolteacher.
• 教員きょういんJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounRefers to a teacher as a member of a school's teaching staff or faculty; it carries an institutional flavor, suiting official contexts more than talk of one's own teacher.
  お前まえは教員きょういんになる決心けっしんをしたのか。↗

  Have you made up your mind to become a teacher?
• 教官きょうかんCommon
  nounChiefly an instructor at a specialized institution such as a police or military academy, and in academic settings closer to 'professor'; seldom the word for an ordinary schoolteacher.
  教官きょうかんは私に毎日まいにち運動うんどうするように勧すすめた。↗

  The instructor advised me to get exercise every day.

Use 先生 for a teacher in everyday speech and as a respectful address, 教師 for the teaching profession, 教員 for teachers as school staff, 師匠 for a master of a craft, and 教官 for academy instructors.

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

• 先生せんせいteacher
• 教師きょうしteacher
• 師匠ししょうmaster
• 教員きょういんteacher
• 教官きょうかんteacher
• 恩師おんしteacher (to whom one owes a debt of gratitude)
• 師範しはんinstructor (esp. of martial or traditional arts)
• 教育者きょういくしゃeducator
• 師しteacher
• ティーチャーteacher
• 夫子ふうしteacher
• 師儒しじゅteacher
• 教者きょうしゃteacher (esp. in Buddhism)
• 教師役きょうしやくteacher (role)
• 宗匠そうしょうmaster
• 教育家きょういくかeducator
• 師表しひょうmodel
• 教諭きょうゆ(licensed) teacher
• 先公せんこうteacher