Tokyo Japanese meaning
やばい (yabai)
Bad, dangerous, intense, amazing, or otherwise extreme, depending on context.
Uses your device’s built-in voice. Pronunciation is approximate because available voices and tokyo pronunciation vary.
Meaning
Yabai began with strongly negative senses such as dangerous or troublesome, but in casual modern speech it can also express amazement, excellence, urgency, or emotional intensity.
Pronunciation and grammar
/ja.ba.i/ · adjective
Very informal and common in contemporary conversation, especially among younger speakers.
How it is used
Tone and context decide whether the speaker means something is terrible, risky, impressive, delicious, or simply overwhelming.
Examples
Japanese: この店、やばいくらいうまい。
English: This place is unbelievably good.
Japanese: 電車に遅れそう。やばい。
English: I might miss the train. This is bad.
Important context
Do not translate it with one fixed English word. Positive and negative readings can be opposite.