kigurumi

English

WOTD – 3 November 2025

Etymology

A kigurumi (sense 1) of the mascot of the city of Fukui in Japan.

A cosplay kigurumi (sense 2) of an anime cartoon character.

A person wearing a kigurumi (sense 3) in the form of a badger.

Borrowed from Japanese 着ぐるみ (kigurumi), from 着 (gi, “clothes, outfit”) + ぐるみ (-gurumi, all together, inclusive) (referring to the fact that the costume completely encloses the wearer).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɪ.ɡuːˈɹuː.mi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɪ.ɡuˈɹu.mi/, /ˌkiː-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːmi
• Hyphenation: ki‧gu‧ru‧mi

Noun

kigurumi (plural kigurumi or kigurumis)

2. A full-body costume of a cartoon character (typically a mascot of cartoonish proportions) originating in Japan.

   Synonyms: kig, kigu

   • 2022, Frenchy Lunning, “Cosplay: A Social History of Mass Culture and Identity”, in Cosplay: The Fictional Mode of Existence, Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN, page 55:

     The -sona community engages in activities similar to cosplay practices in that it appropriates, to various degrees, kigurumi and other characters from popular culture; fans assume these characters in terms of appearance and/or as an “embodied costumed character.”

   • 2024, Jessica McCabe, chapter 3, in Elysia Liang, editor, How to ADHD, New York: Rodale Books, →ISBN, page 49:

     One time, I cast a focus spell by doing my work while eating animal crackers, in a kigurumi, on a swing set. The next time, though, the swing set hurt my hands, the kigurumi was too hot, and the animal crackers reminded me that I'd been wanting to go to the zoo.

4. (anime) A full-body cosplay of a human cartoon character with realistic proportions paired with an anime-style mask, originating in Japan; also (metonymic), the anime-style mask used in such a cosplay.

   Synonyms: animegao, kig, kigu

6. (fashion) A themed onesie, typically in the style of a cartoon animal.

   Synonyms: kig, kigu

Derived terms

• kig
• kigu

Translations

full-body costume and mask

• Arabic: كِيغُورُومِي m (kīḡūrūmī)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: kig (zh), 頭殼 / 头壳 (zh) (tóuké)

• Finnish: kigurumi
• Georgian: კიგურუმი (ḳigurumi)
• Japanese: 着ぐるみ (ja) (きぐるみ, kigurumi)
• Polish: kigurumi n
• Portuguese: kigurumi m

See also

• doller

Further reading

• animegao kigurumi on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• kigurumi onesie on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Chinese

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 着ぐるみ (kigurumi).

Noun

kigurumi

1. kigurumi (full-body costume with an anime-style mask)

Derived terms

• kiger

Japanese

Romanization

kigurumi

1. Rōmaji transcription of きぐるみ

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 着ぐるみ (kigurumi).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ki.ɡuˈɾũ.mi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ki.ɡuˈɾũ.mi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ki.ɡuˈɾu.mi/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ki.ɡuˈɾu.mi/ [ki.ɣuˈɾu.mi]

Noun

kigurumi m (plural kigurumis)

1. kigurumi (full-body costume with an anime-style mask)