1.
older sister
A familiar term for addressing or referring to one's older sister. Less formal than お姉さん.
姉さん、手伝って。
Sis, help me out.
うちの姉さんは料理が上手だ。
My older sister is good at cooking.
隣の姉さんがいつも挨拶してくれる。
The older girl next door always greets me.
2.
young lady; miss; young woman
An informal way to address or refer to a young woman, typically a waitress, shop attendant, or unfamiliar woman who appears to be in her twenties to thirties.
姉さん、お勘定。
Miss, the check please.
あの姉さん、綺麗だな。
That young lady is pretty.
市場の姉さんに声をかけられて、魚を一匹買った。
A woman at the market called out to me, and I ended up buying a fish.
A less formal variant of お姉さん, dropping the honorific お. The kanji 姉 is used for the family relationship meaning, though the word is often written in hiragana.
USAGE:
As a family term (sense 1), 姉さん is casual and familiar — used within the family or among close acquaintances. As an address term (sense 2), it sounds somewhat old-fashioned or working-class, commonly heard in markets, traditional shops, and informal settings. In modern usage, sense 2 can sound overly familiar and is less common among younger speakers.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- うちの姉さん — my older sister (casual)
- 隣の姉さん — the older girl/woman next door
- お姉さん — older sister; young lady (politer form)
SIMILAR WORDS:
- お姉さん — older sister; young lady (politer, more standard)
- 姉 — older sister (humble/neutral, used when speaking about one's own sister to others)
- 姐さん — older woman (gang/yakuza connotation or traditional arts)