Korean Emotions Vocabulary: 40 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Emotions Vocabulary at a Glance

This page lists the noun forms of feelings. Many of them have an adjective partner that you use in everyday speech: 행복 is the noun and 행복해요 is I am happy. The adjectives are covered on Feeling Adjectives, and this list gives you the nouns that sit in news, songs, diaries and sentences like 걱정이 많아요. It belongs to People and Relationships.

Which Emotion Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 기분, 행복, 슬픔, 화, 걱정 and 사랑 first. They name the main feelings and give you the frame 기분이 좋아요 for daily use. Then add 외로움, 불안 and 짜증, which appear in conversation, and 정 and 눈치, which appear in culture talk.

• Words to say. 기분, 행복, 걱정, 사랑, 화, 감사.
• Words to recognise. 분노, 불안, 억울함, 공포. They appear in news and film.
• Words to learn as culture. 정, 눈치, 설렘, 그리움. They carry meanings English splits across several words.

Register matters: 분노 is the formal news word for anger, and 화 is the everyday word. The scene below shows a row of faces, with ten of them numbered to match the list.

Word · 10

1. 1

   행복

   Play

   haengbok

   happiness

2. 2

   기분

   Play

   gibun

   mood; feeling

3. 3

   외로움

   Play

   oeroum

   loneliness

4. 4

   화

   Play

   hwa

   anger

5. 5

   짜증

   Play

   jjajeung

   irritation

6. 6

   걱정

   Play

   geokjeong

   worry

7. 7

   불안

   Play

   buran

   anxiety; unease

8. 8

   놀람

   Play

   nollam

   surprise

9. 9

   그리움

   Play

   geurium

   longing; missing someone

10. 10

    눈치

    Play

    nunchi

    social awareness; reading the mood

Happy and Positive

Positive feelings begin with 행복 (happiness), 기쁨 (joy) and 즐거움 (enjoyment). 웃음 is laughter or a smile, and 만족 is satisfaction. 기분 is not a feeling by itself but your mood at the moment, and it is the key word for asking how someone feels. 행운 (luck) and 꿈 (dream or hope) round out the group, since people talk about both with warm feelings.

Example Sentences

The most useful frame is 기분이 + adjective. 기분이 좋아요 means I feel good, and 기분이 나빠요 means I feel bad or I am upset. The frame 기분이 어때요? asks how you feel. For other feelings, put the noun before 을/를 and use a verb such as 느끼다 (to feel): 행복을 느껴요. Say each sentence aloud after the audio.

Positive nouns often take 해요: 행복해요, 만족해요. The next group gives the sad nouns, which use different verbs.

How Do You Say Sad and Lonely in Korean?

Sadness is 슬픔, and tears are 눈물. 외로움 is loneliness, the feeling of being alone, and 우울 is gloom. 실망 (disappointment) and 후회 (regret) come after something goes wrong. 아픔 and 상처 are about pain in the heart: 아픔 is the pain, and 상처 is the wound left behind. 상처 is used with 받다, to receive: 상처를 받았어요, I was hurt.

External pain and emotional pain share the verb 아프다, so 마음이 아파요 means my heart aches. For a deeper use of 마음, see the personality list at Personality and Appearance.

Angry and Annoyed

Everyday anger is 화, used in 화가 나요 (I get angry) or 화났어요 (I am angry). 분노 is the strong, formal version used in news and writing. 짜증 is the irritation of a small annoyance, 불만 is a complaint and 질투 is jealousy. 미움 is hatred or strong dislike. 스트레스 is stress, a loanword used just as in English. 억울함 is the sense that you were treated unfairly, and there is no one-word English match.

The verb 나다, to come out, pairs with 화, 짜증 and 땀. 화가 나요, 짜증이 나요 and 땀이 나요 all use it.

How Do You Say Worried and Afraid in Korean?

Worry is 걱정, and the polite request 걱정하지 마세요 means do not worry. 불안 is anxiety or unease with no clear cause, and 두려움 is fear with an object. 공포 is terror, and it also names the horror genre. 긴장 is nervous tension before an event, 부담 is the burden of pressure and 고민 is a worry you turn over in your mind. 당황 is the moment of being flustered when something goes wrong.

고민 differs from 걱정. A 고민 is a decision or problem you are thinking about, while 걱정 is a worry about what may happen.

How Do You Say Love and Longing in Korean?

놀람 is surprise and 감동 is the feeling of being moved. 사랑 is love in every sense: romantic, family and care. 그리움 is the longing for a person, a place or a time you miss, and 설렘 is the flutter of excitement before something good, such as a date or a trip. Two culture-bound words close the group. 정 is affection that builds over time, and 눈치 is the skill of reading a room. 감사 (gratitude) completes the group; it is the feeling behind 감사합니다 (thank you).

정 and 눈치 are not translated well by one English word, so learn them through the sentences. 정이 많다 describes someone warm, and 눈치가 없다 describes someone who misses social cues.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Several emotion nouns have sound changes at the end of a syllable. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules, and the romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which does not mark every sound change.

Linking is the main sound habit. In 불안 and 웃음 the final consonant moves forward to the next syllable, so you hear 부란 and 우슴, not a break between the syllables. Tense ㅉ in 걱정 is the second thing to practise, and 행운 shows the one final consonant that never moves forward: ㅇ.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word and sentence has its own clip. The five clips below replay the hardest words slowly. Play one, repeat it aloud, then play it again and compare.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Emotion Words?

Five mistakes come up again and again.

1. Using 분노 in daily talk. For I am angry, say 화났어요 or 화가 나요. 분노 sounds like a headline.
2. Using the noun as the whole sentence. 저는 행복이에요 is odd. Say 저는 행복해요 for I am happy, with the adjective.
3. Translating 정 as love. 사랑 is love. 정 is the bond between people who have spent time together, and it can exist without romance.
4. Reading 눈치 as eyesight. 눈치 is social awareness. 시력 is eyesight. 눈치가 없다 means a person misses the mood.
5. Mixing 그리움 and 외로움. 그리움 is missing someone or something. 외로움 is feeling alone.

In every case a noun is used where English uses an adjective, or a culture-bound word is forced into one English match. The practice section turns the list into drills.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Use three steps. Run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until the 40 words come quickly. Switch to listening mode, then take the quiz. The deck holds every word on this page with audio, and your progress stays in your browser. The vocabulary flashcard decks page lists the other decks.

A printable worksheet for these words (word list, matching, writing practice, fill-in-the-blank exercises and answer key) is available in A4 and US Letter from the download card on this page. For practice, write one sentence about today using the frame 오늘은 기분이 ... and a noun from the list.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Kids and Toys Vocabulary or Feeling Adjectives for the adjective forms. For phrases that say feelings aloud, see expressing feelings. To move up a level, return to People and Relationships.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Anger in Korean?

Anger is 화 (hwa) in daily talk and 분노 (bunno) in formal writing. Say 화가 났어요 for I got angry. 분노 is the news word, as in 분노를 참을 수 없어요, I cannot hold back my anger.

How Do You Pronounce 불안 (buran)?

Say bu-ran. The final ㄹ of 불 moves onto the empty ㅇ of 안, so the word sounds like [부란]. Do not pause between the two syllables. Press the audio button on this page to hear the word and the slow clip.

How Many Emotion Words Should I Learn First?

Start with about six: 기분, 행복, 슬픔, 화, 걱정 and 사랑. They name the main feelings and give you the everyday frame 기분이 좋아요. The whole list of 40 takes about eight days at five new words a day, with a short review of earlier words each day.

Where Can I Practise Emotion Words with Flashcards?

Use the deck on this page, which holds all 40 words with Hangul, romanization and audio, in recognition and listening modes. The vocabulary flashcard decks page lists the decks for the other people topics. Progress is saved only in your browser.

Is the Romanization on This Page Official?

It follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which South Korea adopted on 7 July 2000 and whose rules the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) publishes. It is a learning aid and does not mark every sound change, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Emotion Words?

An emotion-faces worksheet is available in A4 and US Letter; see the vocabulary worksheets page. For practice, use the flashcard deck, which carries the same 40 words, or copy the tables by hand. You can also write one diary line a day with a noun from the list.