Word
kaiju
Phoneticskai·ju
/ˈkaɪdʒu/
Definition
n. a giant monster from Japanese movies, like Godzilla, that often attacks big cities.
n. a genre of Japanese film featuring giant monsters, or one of the monsters themselves. Often used to describe creatures that represent natural disasters or nuclear anxieties.
Examples
“The new movie features a giant kaiju rising from the ocean.”
“Fans of the genre enjoy watching the kaiju destroy miniature city sets during the climactic battle scenes.”
“While modern cinema often relies on digital effects, the original appeal of the kaiju lay in the physical presence of an actor in a heavy rubber suit.”
Examples
simple
“The new movie features a giant kaiju rising from the ocean.”
contextual
“Fans of the genre enjoy watching the kaiju destroy miniature city sets during the climactic battle scenes.”
complex
“While modern cinema often relies on digital effects, the original appeal of the kaiju lay in the physical presence of an actor in a heavy rubber suit.”
Usage
Can be used as a countable noun for the creature or an uncountable noun for the film genre.
Etymology
From Japanese 怪獣 (kaijū), itself from Middle Chinese 怪 (kweajᴴ, "strange, fantastic") + 獸 (syuwᴴ, "beast"). The Mandarin descendant is 怪獸 / 怪兽 (guàishòu).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.