How to say "wardrobe" in Japanese

• 戸棚とだなJLPT N2approx.Common
  nounThe general word for a cupboard or cabinet with doors; it covers wardrobes too, but only in the neutral sense of a storage cupboard, without specifying that clothes are kept inside.
  この本ほんは戸棚とだなの上うえです。↗

  This book goes on the top shelf.
• ワードローブ
  nounThe katakana loanword, covering the English 'wardrobe' directly. It is less common than native terms; you will mostly meet it in fashion, retail, or imported-furniture contexts.
• 洋服ダンスようふくダンス
  nounA wardrobe for Western-style clothing, roughly a tall chest of drawers with doors. This is the ordinary, practical word when you mean a piece of furniture for hanging clothes.
• 衣装箪笥いしょうだんす
  nounA traditional-style clothes chest, originally for storing kimonos and dress clothing. For a modern clothes closet it can sound old-fashioned, so it is often not the word you want.

For a freestanding clothes closet, 「洋服ダンス」 or 衣装箪笥 are the specific terms; 戸棚 is the general cupboard word that can also mean wardrobe, while 「ワードローブ」 is simply the loanword.

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

• 戸棚とだなcupboard
• ワードローブwardrobe
• 洋服ダンスようふくダンスwardrobe (esp. for Western clothes)
• 衣装箪笥いしょうだんすwardrobe
• 押入れおしいれcloset (built into the wall, usu. with sliding doors)