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ゆるふわ yurufuwa
Loose, soft and effortlessly cute.
What does yurufuwa mean?
Oversized knits, soft waves in the hair, pastel everything. It also describes a personality: relaxed, gentle, never sharp-edged.
Example
ゆるふわなセーターが好き。
I love loose, soft-looking sweaters.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Safe to use Fine in ordinary conversation.
The story behind yurufuwa
A compound built from two adjectives: yurui, loose, and fuwafuwa, soft. Fashion magazines of the 2000s glued them together for a look that had no name yet, oversized knits, loosely waved hair, colours that never raise their voice. It spread fast because it described what people were already wearing.
The front half turned out to be extremely productive. Yuru attaches to almost anything now: yuru kyara for the wobbly local mascots that entire towns run on, yuru training for exercise you can do without changing clothes. Applied to a person, yurufuwa means gentle, unhurried, no sharp edges. Depending on the speaker that is either the highest compliment available or a very soft way of saying vague.
Get yurufuwa in your pocket
ゆるふわ is one of 308 words in YABAI, a Japanese culture snack for Android. Every word comes with its meaning, an example sentence, a vibe check and a story like the one above — in 13 languages, read aloud by your device. Paid app: no ads, no sign-up, no subscription.
