奇怪・奇っ怪|きかいkikai[0]heiban (flat)

1. na-adjective, nounstrange; wonderful; weird; outrageous; mysteriousきっかい is more emphatic
   彼かれは奇怪きっかいな体験たいけんを詳くわしく話はなした。↗

   He recounted his unusual experiences.

• SynonymおかしいCasualThe everyday colloquial word for something strange or not right; it can also mean funny. 「奇怪」 is more written and stresses the bizarre, inexplicable or suspicious.
• Synonym不思議ふしぎNeutralFor what is hard to understand or figure out, neutrally or with a sense of wonder. 「奇怪」 stresses the bizarre and abnormal, often with a hint of suspicion.
• Synonym変へんCasualThe common colloquial choice for strange or off; milder than 「奇怪」, and it can also call a person eccentric.
• Synonym妙みょうNeutralUsually as 「妙な」: a vague, hard-to-pin-down oddness with a subtle feel; it can also mean clever or skillful. 「奇怪」 stresses what defies common sense.
• Synonym珍妙ちんみょうWrittenWritten word for something bizarre and comical at once, with a laughable tinge. 「奇怪」 has no comic shade; it points to the inexplicable or suspicious.
• Synonym奇妙きみょうNeutralCommon in daily use for something peculiar and puzzling, stressing the incomprehensible. 「奇怪」 is more written and often carries a suspicious nuance.
• Synonym異様いようNeutralDescribes a look that is clearly abnormal — an unsettling, out-of-the-ordinary appearance. 「奇怪」 is about the matter itself being bizarre.
• Synonym怪奇かいきWrittenWritten word for the grotesque and bizarre, often with horror or a taste for the macabre, as in 「怪奇小説」. 「奇怪」 carries no necessary sense of horror.
• Synonym奇異きいWrittenWritten word for what differs from the norm and startles; it describes objectively. 「奇怪」 puts more weight on defying common sense and on suspicion.
• Synonym不可思議ふかしぎWrittenWritten word stressing what lies beyond human understanding, with a mystical tinge. 「奇怪」 is about the bizarre and abnormal, not the mysterious.
• SynonymおかしなCasualA pre-noun modifier only — it attaches straight to nouns and means strange or funny, in colloquial use. 「奇怪な」 is the more written option.
• Synonym風変わりふうがわりNeutralUnusual or a bit eccentric, often in an amusing way, and said mostly of people and things. 「奇怪」 is about the bizarre and suspicious.
• Synonym奇々怪々ききかいかいWrittenA reduplicated, written form of 「奇怪」 that intensifies it: something extremely bizarre and baffling. Carries a heavier tone than 「奇怪」 itself.
• Synonym珍奇ちんきWrittenWritten word stressing rarity and novelty — strange because it is seldom seen. 「奇怪」 stresses the bizarre and inexplicable, not rarity.
• Synonym怪異かいいWrittenWritten word for strange phenomena; it can also name monsters or apparitions themselves, as in 「怪異譚」. 「奇怪」 works mainly as an adjectival noun for bizarre things.
• Related不気味ぶきみNeutralEerie and frightening — the stress is on the horror it inspires. 「奇怪」 merely means bizarre or suspicious; it need not scare anyone.
• Related怪しいあやしいNeutralEveryday word for suspicious or unreliable; the stress is on doubt, and it need not be bizarre. 「奇怪」 is the more written choice.
• Related怪しげあやしげNeutralFor someone or something that looks suspicious — the oddness is in the outward appearance, as in 「怪しげな男」. 「奇怪」 is about bizarre events.
• RelatedミステリアスNeutralLoanword for mysterious, often with an attractive aura, and mostly said of people. 「奇怪」 implies no charm at all.
• Related妖しいあやしいNeutralMysterious with a bewitching allure, as in 「妖しい魅力」. It suggests neither suspicion nor bizarreness, so it differs sharply from 「奇怪」.
• Related底気味悪いそこきみわるいNeutralA nameless dread — something feels ominous deep down without a clear reason. The stress is on fear; 「奇怪」 needs no fear at all.
• Related気味悪いきみわるいNeutralMakes you uncomfortable or creeped out; the stress is on disgust and dread, not on bizarreness. 「奇怪」 stresses what is hard to understand.
• Related薄気味悪いうすきみわるいNeutralA faint, creeping fear — indescribably unsettling. The stress is on the fear itself; 「奇怪」 stresses the bizarre and suspicious.
• Antonym普通ふつうNeutralThe everyday word for ordinary and normal — the direct opposite of the bizarre, abnormal 「奇怪」.
• Antonym平凡へいぼんNeutralPlain and unremarkable, said mostly of lives and works; it opposes 「奇怪」 in the sense of being out of the ordinary.
• Antonym正常せいじょうNeutralThe state of having nothing abnormal about it — the opposite of the abnormal, suspicious 「奇怪」.

「奇怪」 is a written-flavoured word for things that are bizarre, hard to explain or suspicious. In everyday speech, say 「おかしい」 or 「変」 instead; for the simply incomprehensible or mysterious use 「不思議」, and for something eerie or scary use 「不気味」. Among the rest, 「奇妙」 and 「妙」 fit puzzling oddness, 「異様」 an unsettling look, 「怪しい」 plain suspicion, and the 「気味悪い」 family things that give you the creeps.

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

1. 常識じょうしきでは考かんがえられない不思議ふしぎなこと。変かわっていて怪あやしいこと。