Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A judo or karate teacher.
- n. A teacher or mentor.
- n. Used as a form of address for such a person.
Wiktionary
- n. Japanese term for teacher. It has been adopted into English mostly for use with martial arts instructors. Sensei of martial arts usually live and/or work at a dojo where they instruct their apprentices. A live-in apprentice is also called uchi-deshi.
Etymologies
- From Japanese 先生 sensei, literally ‘one who lived before’. (Wiktionary)
- Japanese, teacher, master, from Middle Chinese senshiaj : sen, first + shiaj, to give birth, person, n. suff. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“When addressing a teacher in the West, a student might say, “Excuse me, Mr. Smith,” but in Japan, the term sensei without a name is sufficient.”
“We use Japanese in our class, but I guess our sensei is a traditionalist.”
“I even marathoned the manga (all 148 chapters in one sitting) right after seeing episode 1 and ended up sleeping at 4 am. xDD Adachi-sensei is really doing a great job in writing it.”
“It might take a decade to happen, but we all know it will, because our sensei is just that good.”
“Koizumi confirms this adding that Maity-sensei is coming as well.”
“Yukiji-sensei is really bitter about getting demoted so she makes up a mischievous plan to get back her position as homeroom teacher.”
“Apparently, Yuki-sensei is still in the mansion wandering, looking for more of the delicious food.”
“In the kendo club dojo, Ishida-sensei is giving the team some reminders about the upcoming match.”
“The next day in class, Maity-sensei is teaching English.”
“Kanamori-sensei is retired now, and can no longer take on such major projects as this kind of book illustration.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sensei’.
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Serendipity's Words
defenestration, mercurial, syzygy, wicked, iniquitous, metastable, demimonde, entropic, ephemeral, irreligious, frisbee, manifold and 474 more...
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gerwitz's Words
erudite, autodidactic, callipygian, ouroboros, zounds, fie, wabi, sabi, gedankenexperiment, zeitgeist, eliminativism, aether and 157 more...
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words that are fun to say
splendiferous, jabberwocky, woobie, willy-nilly, aphrodisiac, fiddle-faddle, gobbledygook, anachronistic, wimbeldon, chronic, quagmire, vex and 61 more...
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Yes Sir, No Ma'am, Hai Senpai
Social titles that can be used when directly addressing the person.
mister, miss, master, doctor, sir, madam, lady, mistress, mademoiselle, señor, señorita, señora and 4 more...
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Ninja Words
Are you Ninja enough??
(many of these words are in Japanese) -
Eigo-Wasei.
The opposite of wasei-eigo; Japanese words used in English.
wasei-eigo, keiretsu, jujitsu, haiku, senryū, kamikaze, dojo, sensei, aikido
Tweets
Looking for tweets for sensei.

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