Character-type vocabularyUpdated

The dere types tsundere · yandere · kuudere · dandere

“Dere types” are fan labels for fictional characters with different ways of showing affection. ツンデレ is the best established example, contrasting prickly and affectionate behavior. Labels such as ヤンデレ, クーデレ, and ダンデレ circulate in fandom, but their boundaries are informal and vary by community.

ツンデレ・ヤンデレ・クーデレ・ダンデレ · and deredere / yangire / デレ期 / 〜系

ツンデレ — prickly, then warm · ヤンデレ — sweet, and sick with it · クーデレ — flat, then soft · ダンデレ — silent, then soft

Sentences

5 sentences, word by word

Which one · asking the question

casual

?

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一番

いちばん [2,0]

most; best

adverb · superlative marker, placed before what it ranks

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好き

すき [2]

like

na-adjective · what you like takes が, not を

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な

な

linking な

na-adjective ending · 好き needs な before the noun it modifies

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デレ

デレ

dere type

noun · the clipped デレデレ, used on its own for the whole family

デレデレN1the mimetic the family is built on

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は

は

as for — the topic

particle · written は, read わ

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どれ

どれ

which one

pronoun · picking from a known set, unlike どの which needs a noun

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Which dere type do you like best?

ツンデレ vs ヤンデレ · the axis

plain

。

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ツンデレ

ツンデレ

tsundere

noun · ツンツン prickly + デレ — cold outside, warm inside

ツンツンN1つんつん [1] — prickly

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と

と

with; and

particle · joins nouns, or marks who you did it with

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ヤンデレ

ヤンデレ

yandere

noun · 病む to sicken + デレ — warm outside, broken inside

病むN2the affection is the illness

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は

は

as for — the topic

particle · written は, read わ

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正反対

せいはんたい [3]

exact opposites

noun · 正 exactly + 反対 opposite; stronger than plain 反対

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だ

だ

are

plain copula · です in polite speech

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Tsundere and yandere are exact opposites.

クーデレ · asking what one is

casual

?

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クーデレ

クーデレ

kuudere

noun · クール cool + デレ — unreadable rather than hostile

クーデレN1flat, then soft

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って

って

the thing called

colloquial quotative · casual topic marker, standing in for とは

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何

なに [1]

what

pronoun · なに before a pause, なん before です and counters

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What's a kuudere?

ダンデレ · the shy one

plain

。

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彼

かれ [1]

he

pronoun · also the noun for boyfriend, context decides

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は

は

as for — the topic

particle · written は, read わ

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ダンデレ

ダンデレ

dandere

noun · 黙り silence + デレ — the barrier is nerves, not attitude

ダンデレN1silent, then soft

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っぽい

っぽい

-ish; the sort of

suffix · hedges a label, exactly what 〜系 does more formally

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He's the dandere sort.

デレデレ · the half on its own

casual

。

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デレデレ

でれでれ [1]

lovestruck; melting

mimetic · ordinary Japanese, and the piece every 〜デレ is built from

デレデレN1the source of the whole family

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してる

してる

is doing

colloquial している · the ongoing state, with the い dropped

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だけ

だけ

only; just

particle · limits what is being claimed

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だ

だ

is

plain copula · closes the noun-like だけ phrase

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よ

よ

I'm telling you

sentence-final particle · presents it as news to the listener

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He's just gone soft, that's all.

How it works

How the template works

Surface manner+デレ

Name how they behave before they warm up, attach デレ. That is the whole rule, and it is why a type you have never seen is readable on sight.

Character + は+〜デレだ

The plain label. Overwhelmingly about fiction — about a real person the milder ones are teasing and ヤンデレ is an accusation.

〜デレな+Noun

Slang nouns modify with な: ツンデレなキャラ, ヤンデレなヒロイン. The 〜系 form does the same job more loosely: ツンデレ系の子.

ツン期/デレ期・ツン8デレ2

Fans dismantle the word freely: 期 phase on either half, and ratios to rate how a character is mixed. Proof that the pieces are felt as pieces.

Meaning

One mimetic, five archetypes

The デレ is a real word, not an invented suffix. Japanese carries a huge stock of mimetics for manner, and デレデレ is an ordinary member of it: soft, fawning, visibly melting over someone. Fandom clipped it to デレ and turned it into a suffix — so every type in the family means ⋯ on the outside, soft underneath, and only the first half changes.

ツンデレ and ヤンデレ are near-opposites. ツン is from ツンツン, prickly — the coldness is armour, the affection is underneath, and the arc is a thaw. ヤン is from 病む, to fall ill — the affection is on display and it is the affection that has gone wrong, so the arc is a descent. English discussion blurs the two constantly; the Japanese keeps them apart in two morae.

クーデレ and ダンデレ differ in what the barrier is made of. A クーデレ is クール: flat, unreadable, apparently indifferent — nothing is being pushed away, there is simply nothing showing. A ダンデレ is 黙り, silence: they would speak if they could. Cold on purpose, blank by nature, and mute from nerves are three different characters, and the first mora tells you which.

ヤンギレ is the one with no デレ in it. 病む + キレる, to snap: someone who turns violent without the devotion that defines ヤンデレ. It is the clearest proof that the デレ is load-bearing — take it out and the archetype changes rather than weakening.

They are fandom vocabulary of recent coinage. All of these were made on Japanese message boards in the 2000s, with ツンデレ first and the rest modelled on it. None appears on a JLPT list. Japanese speakers inside anime and game circles use them freely; outside, many will recognise the words without ever reaching for one — and about a real person ツンデレ is teasing while ヤンデレ says they are dangerous.

Inside the words

Where デレ came from, and why it spread

Mimetics are a whole layer of Japanese

ツンツン, デレデレ, キラキラ, ゴロゴロ — Japanese renders manner as sound on a scale English has no equivalent for. The dere family is that ordinary layer being used as a naming system, which is why the coinages feel native rather than clever.

Coined on message boards, in this order

ツンデレ came first and spread out of Japanese net culture in the 2000s; ヤンデレ, クーデレ and ダンデレ were modelled on it once the template was obvious. English borrowed them whole, spelling and all — which is unusual, and a sign of how transparent the pattern is.

Why no pitch numbers are printed here

None of the compounds is in the Kanjium accent table — too new and too informal — so this page prints no number for them rather than deriving one. The halves are in there: でれでれ [1] and つんつん [1], both used above.

Watch out

Where the dere types go wrong

Swapping ツンデレ and ヤンデレ

They are near-opposites, not two shades of the same thing. ツンデレ hides warmth behind coldness; ヤンデレ hides damage behind warmth. English discussion blurs them; the Japanese does not.

Calling a real person ヤンデレ

ツンデレ works as affectionate teasing about a friend whose gruffness fools nobody. ヤンデレ says their attachment is a danger. If what you mean is clingy, the words are 重い or 束縛が強い.

Treating クーデレ as cold

クー is クール — flat and unexpressive, not hostile. Nothing is being pushed away, which is exactly what separates it from ツン. A クーデレ who snapped at you would be a ツンデレ.

Expecting them in a dictionary

These are fandom coinages of the 2000s. A Japanese speaker outside anime circles may well know them and will rarely use them, and no JLPT level lists any of them — which does not make them less real, only less general.

Also asked

Questions people ask about the dere types

What are the dere types?

A family of Japanese character-type words built on デレ, clipped from the mimetic デレデレ (visibly smitten). Each name adds a surface manner in front: ツンデレ prickly, ヤンデレ sick with love, クーデレ unreadable, ダンデレ silent.

What is a kuudere?

クール cool + デレ — a character who is flat and unreadable rather than hostile, and quietly warm once you are inside. The difference from ツンデレ is that nothing is being pushed away; there is simply nothing on display.

What is a dandere?

黙り silence + デレ — too shy to speak at all, and warm once they do. The barrier is nerves rather than attitude, which is what separates it from both ツンデレ and クーデレ.

What is a deredere?

The unmodified word: openly affectionate all the time, with no cold phase to get through. It is also ordinary Japanese outside fandom — デレデレしている describes anyone visibly melting over someone.

What is the difference between yandere and yangire?

The デレ. A ヤンデレ is dangerous because of devotion; a ヤンギレ — 病む + キレる, to snap — is violent with no devotion behind it at all.

What is the difference between tsundere and yandere?

Which half is hidden. ツンデレ is prickly on the surface with real affection underneath — the coldness is armour. ヤンデレ is affectionate on the surface with something broken underneath. One is a romance device, the other a horror one.

Are the dere types real Japanese words?

Real slang, not dictionary vocabulary. They were coined on Japanese message boards in the 2000s and are used freely inside anime and game fandom; outside it, recognition is common and use is rare. デレデレ and ツンツン underneath them are ordinary Japanese.

References

Sources and usage notes

Digital Daijisen, つんでれ — Documents ツンデレ as a character label; does not establish a formal taxonomy.

Nearby

Where this shows up

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