It's a genere in japanese anime and manga that reffers to erotic but not abruptly sexual content. It can show full to partial nudity, including nipples, cameltoes, panty flashing, grabbing boobs, but never exposed genitals, and is often displayed in a humoresque way. The term comes from the japanese pronunciation of the letter "H" (pronounced "eh-chi") as in Japan erotic content is rated "H" while in the rest of the world its more commonly rated "X".

Outside of Japan it's easier to understand Ecchi as softcore, non-sexual and erotic and Hentai as hardcore pornography.

v. collectively or individually finding someone/something to blame for a problem, as opposed to brainstorming which connotes finding solutions to a problem

n. the act of finding someone/something to blame for a problem

(from a TV ad for HD television)

Softcore hentai. Often includes panty-shots, nudity, or perverted situations. Almost always used for humor. Ecchi does not describe actual sex acts.

1. In "anime" (Japanese animation) fan circles, when you say something is "ecchi" you mean it is erotic, but usually not with all-out sex or anything very vulgar. Basically like "hentai" but more softcore.

2. In Japanese: comes from English letter "H," possibly an abbreviation of the word "hentai" which means perverted/sexually deviant. Refers to the act of sex, or can refer to anything sexual in nature if used as an adjective with the -na suffix.

Ecchi is a word that has two related but VERY different meanings in Japanese and English respectivly.

English: Ecchi in English speaking anime fandom is considered to mean mildly perverted. It is used to describe anime and manga with panty shots, the occasional nipple, sexual humour, and other forms of fanservice but does not actualy conatain sex.

Japanese: In the Japanese usage "ecchi" literaly means "sex". When the Japanese refer to "ecchi anime" they mean what English speakers would call "hentai", which in Japan is used to mean "pervert"

The sound of "H" in japanese phoneme which is a shorthand for saying "hentai".
The most commonly used word for "sex" in modern time Japan; was also used for defining erotic means across the internet by foreigners.

Ecchi is the pronunciation for the letter 'H'. It is a word for lewd or perverted and often related to hentai - especially in Japanese, where ecchi is slang for hentai. More often than not, though, ecchi is used to describe people rather than things such as anime.