seiyuu
/ˈseɪjuː/
seiyuu noun: a voice actor in a native-language version anime, a video game, a radio broadcast or an advertisement in Japan.
Noun
seiyuu (plural seiyuu or seiyuus)
- A voice actor in a native-language version anime, a video game, a radio broadcast or an advertisement in Japan.
- i was just wondering if any seiyuus did/do any other voice acting for things besides anime, like video games and other such media.1998 November 8, jjiz...@forest.drew.edu, “seiyuus in other media?”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet)
- I was thinking, have there ever been any seiyuu that are native English speakers but have learned Japanese and won a role as an anime character?2001 March 23, Marcus Mas, “[OT] English speaking seiyuu?”, in alt.fan.sailor-moon (Usenet)
Verb
seiyuu (third-person singular simple present seiyuus, present participle seiyuuing, simple past and past participle seiyuued)
- To take on a role as a voice actor in a Japanese production, or perform a certain character in such a production.
- me, i just want to know all anime that ogata has seiyuued in and who she was the voice actress for.1996 June 9, kristyn lier, “Megumi Ogata Roles”, in alt.fan.sailor-moon (Usenet)
- Tomokazu Seki also appears in his theater company "Hero-Hero-Q"'s stage plays when he's not seiyuu-ing.2001 July 22, sumire, “Re: Seiyuu as Live Actors.”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet)
Examples of seiyuu in a sentence
- And the seiyuus all fit very nicely with their characters, especially Takuya, who voices our main man, Hikigaya.December 2013, Pax Alquiza in Anime Reign Magazine, Vol. 1, Issue 2
- Kasahara might be better-known today to most U.S. fans as an anime seiyuu (voice actor); she played Fuu in Magic Knights Rayearth and Misuki's mother, Hazuki, in Full Moon wo Sagashite.2014, p. 189
- See below, in which she cosplays as Char Aznable and the character she seiyuu'd […]2004 May 4, Neo-Era, “Yumiko Shaku Zaku”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):
Forms of seiyuu
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | seiyuu |
| plural | seiyuus |
| alternative form | seiyu |
| alternative form | seiyū |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | seiyuus |
| present participle | seiyuuing |
| past participle | seiyuued |
| past | seiyuued |
Origin of seiyuu
Borrowed from Japanese 声優 (seiyū), from Middle Chinese 聲 (*ɕiɛ̝ŋ, “sound, voice”) + 優 (*ʔɨu, “actor”).
Questions about seiyuu
- What does seiyuu mean?
- Seiyuu means a voice actor in a native-language version anime, a video game, a radio broadcast or an advertisement in Japan.
- How do you use seiyuu in a sentence?
- And the seiyuus all fit very nicely with their characters, especially Takuya, who voices our main man, Hikigaya.
- What part of speech is seiyuu?
- Seiyuu can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce seiyuu?
- Seiyuu is pronounced /ˈseɪjuː/.
- What is the plural of seiyuu?
- The plural of seiyuu is seiyuu.
Words near seiyuu in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: seiyuu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-seiyuu.wav.
Cite this entry: “seiyuu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/seiyuu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.