Pout, Hmph Face - Meaning, Examples in Anime, How to Say in Japanese

There are various ways to say "to pout" in Japanese, depending on what you mean: hoppe wo fukuramaseru ほっぺを膨らませる, kuchi wo togaraseru 口を尖らせる, suneru 拗ねる.

• In English
• ほっぺを膨らませる
• 口を尖らせる
• Related Words
  • 拗ねる
  • プッと
  • ムッと

In English

In English, "to pout" can mean two different things.^{[pout - merriam-webster.com, accessed 2020-05-11]}

1. To push your lips forward, specially the lower lip, in an expression of displeasure. Used when you're annoyed, sullen, petulant, and so on.
2. To push your lips forward suggestively, like you're trying to kiss someone. Used when you're taking a photo, for example, similar to the "duck face."

If you've never looked up the verb "to pout" in a dictionary, you're probably as surprised as I was to find out that the dictionary doesn't include the way the word is most used in the anime fandom.

ほっぺを膨らませる

In anime, most of the time the word "pout" is used toward a character, it doesn't mean the character is "pushing their lips forward," but, instead, "puffing their cheeks."

Character: Hina-ichigo 雛苺
Anime: Rozen Maiden, ローゼンメイデン (Episode 5)

To say "puffing your cheeks" in Japanese:

• hoppe wo fukuramaseru
  ほっぺを膨らませる
  To make [one's] cheeks inflate. (causative sentence.)
  To inflate [your] cheeks.
  To puff [your] cheeks.
  • fukuramu
    膨らむ
    To swell. To expand. To inflate. (intransitive verb.)

The term fukurettsura ふくれっ面 specifically refers to this so-called "pouting" face with cheeks puffed out.

Some people think anime girls pouting look cute (moe 萌え).

Character: Moegi Homi 萌黄ホミ
Anime: Miru Tights, みるタイツ (Episode 1)

Consequently, girls end up pouting in anime way more than they do in real life.

Character: Ogata Rizu 緒方理珠
Anime: Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai ぼくたちは勉強ができない (Episode 1)

• Head smoke: a symbol of anger.

Note that since this phrase only means the cheeks are inflated, it also ends up describing situations that has nothing to do with pouting. For example:

Character: Ryuugazaki Rei 竜ヶ崎怜
Anime: Free!, フリー！ (Episode 5)

• {haki-sou na} kao
  吐きそうな顔
  A face [that] {look like [he's] going to vomit.}
  • haku
    吐く
    To put something out of [one's] mouth.
    To spew. (lies.)
    To vomit.

口を尖らせる

To say "pouting" in Japanese as defined in the English dictionary, the phrase would instead be:

• kuchi wo togaraseru
  口を尖らせる
  To make [one's] mouth become pointy. (causative sentence.)
  • togarasu
    尖らす
    For the point of something to sharpen. In the sense that the protruding part of something ends up protruding even more than normal.
  • enpitsu wo togaraseru
    鉛筆を尖らせる
    To make the point of a pencil become sharper
    To sharpen a pencil. (e.g. with a pencil sharpener.)
  • In the case of pouting, the protruding part of the mouth are the lips, so making them protrude more means pushing the lips forward.

In anime, a 3-shaped mouth typically represents this sort of pouting.

Left: Hiiragi Kagami 柊かがみ
Right: Izumi Konata 泉こなた
Anime: Lucky☆Star, らき☆すた (Episode 4)

• ikari maaku
  怒りマーク
  Anger mark. (the mark at top left, symbolizing anger.)

The term ochobo-guchi おちょぼ口 refers to cute, small (pursed) mouths.

In some cases, when characters push their lips forward, but face slightly downward, the upper lip is rendered as an indentation on the head's outline and covers the lower lip. For example:

Character: Miyauchi Renge 宮内れんげ
Anime: Non Non Biyori のんのんびより (Episode 1)

• naderu
  撫でる
  To caress. To [head] pat.

Left: Kanna Kamui カンナカムイ
Right: Saikawa Riko 才川リコ
Anime: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon, 小林さんちのメイドラゴン (Episode 10)

In Japanese culture, a ridiculously long, pursed mouth is found in certain masks.

Character: Haganezuka Hotaru 鋼鐵塚蛍
Anime: Kimetsu no Yaiba 鬼滅の刃 (Episode 5)

• hyottoko no omen
  ひょっとこのお面
  Hyottoko's mask.
  • This word is said to come from:^{[大辞林 第三版 - via kotobank.jp, accessed 2020-05-19]}
  • hi-otoko
    火男
    Fire-man.
  • In the sense of a man that blows fire with his mouth, well, not in the "fire comes out of his mouth" sense, more like in the "blowing through a piece of bamboo to make fire stronger" sense.
  • hi-fuki-dake
    火吹き竹
    Bamboo for blowing fire.

Sometimes the 3-shaped mouth is used in anime when a character is blowing air, too, since it's the same mouth shape:

Left: Shikada Kokonotsu 鹿田ココノツ
Right: Shidare Hotaru 枝垂ほたる
Anime: Dagashikashi だがしかし (Episode 1)

• Context: Hotaru ate something spicy.

Related Words

The words below do not mean "pouting," the facial expression, but a character that is pouting can sometimes be described with them.

拗ねる

The word suneru 拗ねる means "to sulk," in the sense of being mad at someone, or unhappy at something, but instead of voicing your feelings you're just like:

Character: Hoshino Hinata 星野ひなた
Anime: Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita! 私に天使が舞い降りた！ (Episode 3)

• Hmph!

プッと

The word putto プッと is the onomatopoeic pu' プッ plus the to と adverbializer. Literally, it means someone is making a pu' プッ sound, by blowing air through your mouth closed.

It's like a "buh" but with a p. A synonym is puuto プーと.

Character: Excel エクセル
Anime: Excel♥Saga, エクセル♥サーガ (Episode 4)

• "puu" to fukurande
  「ぷー」とふくらんで
  Inflating with a "puu." (a tag on Pixiv for pouting characters.) ^{[「ぷー」とふくらんで - dic.pixiv.net, accessed 2020-05-19]}

ムッと

The word mutto ムッと is similar, except this time the onomatopoeia is mu' ムッ and it implies someone is annoyed, displeased, or in "ill humor," fukigen 不機嫌.

Character: Nakano Itsuki 中野五月
Manga: Gotoubun no Hanayome 五等分の花嫁 (Chapter 1, 五等分の花嫁)

• The rope-like pattern in the background is called nawaami ナワアミ.
• The white text in the background reads mu' ムッ.

Character: Myne マイン
Anime: Honzuki no Gekokujou 本好きの下剋上 (Season 2) (Episode 9)

• gekioko
  激おこ
  Extremely angry.
  • hageshiku okotte-iru
    激しく怒っている
    (same meaning.)