ecchi

/ˈɛ.tʃi/

Etymology

From Japanese エッチ (etchi, “dirty; perverted”), which is derived from English aitch (“name of the letter ⟨H⟩”), which is an initialism of the romaji of Japanese 変(へん)態(たい) (hentai, “pervert”). エッチ (etchi) is not a genre in Japanese; this is a development in English (Pseudo-Japonism), similar to that of hentai from 変(へん)態(たい) (hentai, “pervert”) above.

ecchi means Of animation, erotic, lascivious, lewd, naughty, sexy, suggestive. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

adj

Of animation, erotic, lascivious, lewd, naughty, sexy, suggestive.

noun

A genre, especially of anime and manga, featuring playful, tongue-in-cheek usage of sexualized scenes and situations such as double entendre or flirtation, while remaining non-pornographic. Often used to differentiate from hentai which features overt sexual themes.“The manga fan was disturbingly proud of his extensive ecchi collection.”
A situation within a story, especially anime and manga, which ventures into the ecchi genre.“There was a moment of ecchi for comic relief in the otherwise serious story.”