ecchi
ec·chi/ˈɛ.tʃiː/adjective, noun
ecchi is spelled E-C-C-H-I: 5 letters and 2 syllables (ec·chi). It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ecchi means “Of animation, erotic, lascivious, lewd, naughty, sexy, suggestive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ecchi?
| Letters | 5: E-C-C-H-I |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ec·chi |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 58,063rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ecchi?
Ecchi appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ecchi?
- UK /ˈɛ.tʃi/
- US /ˈɛ.tʃiː/
Ecchi has 2 syllables, split ec·chi in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-ecchi.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ecchi
- more ecchi comparative
- most ecchi superlative
- etchi
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ecchi mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of animation, erotic, lascivious, lewd, naughty, sexy, suggestive.
noun
- 1
A genre, especially of anime and manga, featuring playful, tongue-in-cheek usage of sexualized scenes and situations such as double entendre or flirtation, while remaining non-pornographic. Often used to differentiate from hentai which features overt sexual themes.
The manga fan was disturbingly proud of his extensive ecchi collection.
- 2
rareA situation within a story, especially anime and manga, which ventures into the ecchi genre.
There was a moment of ecchi for comic relief in the otherwise serious story.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ecchi in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ecchi |
| Portuguese | ecchi |
| Spanish | ecchi |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ecchi come from?
From Japanese エッチ (etchi, “dirty; perverted”), which is derived from English aitch (“name of the letter ⟨H⟩”), which is an initialism of the romaji of Japanese 変(へん)態(たい) (hentai, “pervert”). エッチ (etchi) is not a genre in Japanese; this is a development in English (pseudo-Japonism), similar to that of hentai from 変(へん)態(たい) (hentai, “pervert”) above.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).