お客(きゃく)さん

おきゃくさん
noun
guest, customer
politepersonbusiness
See also: 客(きゃく) (plain form), お客様(きゃくさま) (honorific form)
1. guest, visitor
A person visiting someone's home.
お客(きゃく)さんが来(き)た。
A guest arrived.
お客(きゃく)さんにお茶(ちゃ)を出(だ)した。
I served tea to the guest.
明日(あした)、お客(きゃく)さんが家(いえ)に来(く)る。
A visitor is coming to our house tomorrow.
2. customer, patron
A person who buys goods or services from a business.
お客(きゃく)さん、何(なに)をお探(さが)しですか？
Customer, what are you looking for?
今日(きょう)はお客(きゃく)さんが多(おお)い。
There are many customers today.
お客(きゃく)さんを大切(たいせつ)にする店(みせ)だ。
It's a shop that values its customers.

お客(きゃく)さん is the polite, everyday term for both guests and customers. The お～さん honorific pattern makes it warm and approachable.

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  • 客(きゃく): plain, can sound blunt when referring to people directly
  • お客(きゃく)さん: polite everyday form (most common)
  • お客(きゃく)様(さま): very formal, used in business and service settings

USAGE (form of address):
Shop staff and service workers use お客(きゃく)さん or お客(きゃく)様(さま) to address customers directly ("Excuse me, customer..."). This is natural in Japanese, unlike English.

Common collocations

Related words

Related Words

Related: 来客(らいきゃく) (visitor)
Related: 顧客(こきゃく) (client, customer)
Compare: 来場者(らいじょうしゃ) (visitor)
Compare: 得意先(とくいさき) (customer)
general
Added 2026.2.5 23:59 · Revised 2026.10.8 4:36
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