い形容詞 II

淡あわい期待きたいを抱いだいていたが叶かなわなかった。

I held a faint hope, but it came to nothing.

Usage 淡い色, 淡い期待, 淡い記憶 — pale, faint, fleeting. Its opposite is 濃い. 淡い恋 is a passing first love. Read あわい.

Remember it 淡 (pale) with the water radical 氵 → diluted until the colour barely shows.

事故じこの記憶きおくがまだ生々なまなましい。

The memory of the accident is still raw.

Usage 生々しい記憶, 生々しい傷跡, 生々しい描写 — so vivid it feels present, usually uncomfortably so. Read なまなましい.

Remember it 生 (raw) doubled → still raw, not yet healed over.

この地方ちほうは陶器とうきで名高なだかい。

This region is renowned for its pottery.

Usage 〜で名高い. More formal than 有名. The compound 悪名高い, notorious, is very common.

Remember it 名 (name) + 高い (high) → the name stands high.

一人ひとりで任まかせるには心こころもとない。

He is not reliable enough to be left with it alone.

Usage Uneasy for want of certainty. Also written 心許ない. The subject may be a person or an ability.

Remember it 心 (heart) + もとない (without footing) → the heart with nothing under it.

手てっ取とり早ばやく結論けつろんから言いおう。

Let me go straight to the conclusion.

Usage 手っ取り早く言うと, to put it briefly. The adverb 手っ取り早く is what you will meet most. Quick, and possibly a little rough.

Remember it 手 (hand) + 取る (take) + 早い (fast) → grabbed with the hand and done at once.

そんな争あらそいは愚おろかしいだけだ。

A quarrel like that is simply foolish.

Usage Foolish to the point of being ridiculous. More emphatic than 愚か. The noun is 愚かしさ.

Remember it 愚 (foolish, as in 愚問) over the heart radical 心 → foolishness that comes from the heart of the person.

外そとが騒々そうぞうしくて集中しゅうちゅうできない。

It is so noisy outside that I cannot concentrate.

Usage Noisy and boisterous, of sound and of the times alike: 騒々しい世の中 is a troubled age. Read そうぞうしい.

Remember it 騒 (clamour) with the horse radical 馬 → horses in an uproar.

金かねにまつわる汚けがらわしい話はなしは聞ききたくない。

I do not want to hear sordid talk about money.

Usage Morally filthy and repellent, unlike 汚い, which is physical dirt. Read けがらわしい. The verb is 汚す (けがす).

Remember it 汚 (defiled) with the water radical 氵 → water fouled so you will not touch it.

これは紛まぎれもない事実じじつだ。

This is an unmistakable fact.

Usage 紛れもない〜 — beyond any possibility of mistake. Almost always before a noun, most often in 紛れもない事実.

Remember it 紛れる (be mixed up with) + ない → impossible to mistake for anything else.

若者わかものの活字かつじ離ばなれは嘆なげかわしい。

Young people's drift away from reading is deplorable.

Usage Lamentable, and usually in the voice of an older person criticising society. From the verb 嘆く.

Remember it 嘆 (lament) on the mouth radical 口 → enough to make you sigh over it.

忌いまわしい記憶きおくを思おもい出だしてしまった。

An abominable memory came back to me.

Usage 忌まわしい記憶, 忌まわしい事件 — repellent or ill-omened, something you would rather not name. Read いまわしい. The verb 忌む is to shun as taboo.

Remember it 忌 (taboo) over the heart radical 心 → the thing the heart refuses to touch.

勇いさましい掛かけ声ごえが響ひびいた。

A valiant shout rang out.

Usage Brave and full of spirit. Also used ironically: 勇ましいことを言う, big talk that may not be backed up.

Remember it 勇 (courage, as in 勇気) → the bearing of someone with courage in them.

麗うるわしい友情ゆうじょうに心こころを打うたれた。

I was moved by such a beautiful friendship.

Usage Lovely, of appearance or of feeling. Literary and refined. ご機嫌麗しゅう is an archaic greeting.

Remember it 麗 (beautiful, as in 美麗) → beauty of a graceful, polished kind.

彼かれに会あわなくなって久ひさしい。

It is a long time since I last saw him.

Usage 〜なくなって久しい — it has long been the case that no longer — is a much-tested pattern. Same root as 久しぶり. It rarely sits directly before a noun.

Remember it 久 (long time, as in 永久) → a long stretch of it has gone by.

変化へんかが目めまぐるしく、ついていけない。

Changes come so fast that I cannot keep up.

Usage 目まぐるしい変化. The adverb 目まぐるしく is very common. From 目が回る, to have your head spin.

Remember it 目 (eye) + まぐるしい (whirling) → fast enough to make the eyes spin.

初対面しょたいめんなのに馴なれ馴なれしい態度たいどだ。

For a first meeting, his manner is far too familiar.

Usage Overly familiar, closing a distance that should have been kept, and so uncomfortable. Always critical — quite unlike the warm 親しい.

Remember it 馴れる (grow familiar) doubled → familiar, and then familiar again on top of it.

厚あつかましいお願ねがいで恐縮きょうしゅくですが。

I am sorry to make such a brazen request.

Usage 厚かましいお願い is how you preface asking a favour, disarming yourself first. 厚かましい人 is someone with a thick skin. Close to 図々しい.

Remember it 厚 (thick) + かましい → the skin grown thick enough not to feel it.

金かねのために友ともを裏切うらぎるとは浅あさましい。

To betray a friend for money is contemptible.

Usage Base and pitiable at once — contempt mixed with pity. Read あさましい; it has nothing to do with 浅い meaning shallow.

Remember it 浅 (shallow) with the water radical 氵 → a nature with no depth to it.

痛いたましい事故じこの報道ほうどうに胸むねが詰つまった。

The report of the tragic accident left me with a lump in my throat.

Usage 痛ましい事故, 痛ましい姿 — heartrending. It describes the scene, not your own sensation. Also written 傷ましい.

Remember it 痛 (pain) under the sickness radical 疒 → the pain it causes the one who sees it.

華々はなばなしい活躍かつやくで注目ちゅうもくを集あつめた。

He drew attention with a brilliant performance.

Usage 華々しい活躍, 華々しいデビュー. Also 華々しい最期, a glorious end. Read はなばなしい.

Remember it 華 (splendour, flower) doubled → flowering in full view.

重々おもおもしい口調くちょうで語かたり始はじめた。

He began to speak in a grave tone.

Usage 重々しい口調, 重々しい雰囲気 — solemn and weighty. Its direct opposite is 軽々しい, and the pair is often tested together.

Remember it 重 (heavy) doubled → weight on top of weight.

軽々かるがるしく約束やくそくすべきではない。

One should not make promises lightly.

Usage 軽々しく〜する — acting without due thought. The adverb 軽々しく is the usual form. Read かるがるしい; quite unlike the neutral 軽い.

Remember it 軽 (light) doubled → light where weight was called for.

白々しらじらしい言いい訳わけはやめてほしい。

I wish he would stop the barefaced excuses.

Usage 白々しい嘘, 白々しい態度 — a lie so transparent that everyone sees it and the speaker persists anyway. Read しらじらしい.

Remember it 白 (white, exposed) doubled → bleached so pale that nothing is hidden.

図々ずうずうしくも席せきを代かわってほしいと頼たのんできた。

He had the cheek to ask me to swap seats.

Usage Shameless. Colloquial and openly critical. Close to 厚かましい but blunter and stronger. Read ずうずうしい.

Remember it 図 (design, nerve) doubled → nerve, and then some more of it.

慎つつましい暮くらしを続つづけている。

They go on living modestly.

Usage 慎ましい暮らし, 慎ましい態度 — unassuming and frugal. Complimentary. Also 慎ましやか. The verb 慎む means to exercise restraint.

Remember it 慎 (prudence) on the heart radical 忄 → keeping oneself within bounds.

兄弟きょうだいのやりとりが微笑ほほえましかった。

The way the brothers dealt with each other was heartwarming.

Usage 微笑ましい光景 — a sight that brings a smile unbidden. It describes the scene, often one involving children. Read ほほえましい.

Remember it 微笑 (a faint smile) → the kind of thing that puts a small smile on you.

受賞じゅしょうの知しらせは誠まことに喜よろこばしい。

The news of the award is most gratifying.

Usage Formal, for speeches and announcements. Unlike 嬉しい, which is your own feeling, 喜ばしい is said of the event itself.

Remember it 喜 (joy) → an occasion for joy.

輝かがやかしい経歴けいれきの持もち主ぬしだ。

He is a man with a glittering career behind him.

Usage 輝かしい功績, 輝かしい経歴, 輝かしい未来. Used only of abstract achievement, never of actual light.

Remember it 輝 (shine) → shining, but the achievement rather than the lamp.

彼かれの才能さいのうが妬ねたましくてならない。

I cannot help being galled by his talent.

Usage 〜が妬ましい — describing the speaker's own bitter envy. The verb is 妬む, the noun 嫉妬.

Remember it 妬 (envy) with the woman radical 女 → the sourness of watching someone have it.

どちらを選えらぶか悩なやましい問題もんだいだ。

Which to choose is a vexing question.

Usage 悩ましい問題, a dilemma — now the dominant sense; and an older sense of seductive. The two are far apart, so read the context.

Remember it 悩 (anguish) on the heart radical 忄 → what will not let the mind settle.

昔むかしの自分じぶんが疎うとましく思おもえることがある。

There are times when my former self seems repellent to me.

Usage 〜が疎ましい — finding something disagreeable and wanting it at a distance. Read うとましい. Same root as 疎い and 疎遠.

Remember it 疎 (distant) → wanting it further away from you than it is.

荒々あらあらしい波なみが岩いわに打うちつけた。

Rough waves beat against the rocks.

Usage 荒々しい波, 荒々しい態度, 荒々しい息遣い — violent, of nature and of behaviour alike. Read あらあらしい.

Remember it 荒 (wild) doubled → wildness on wildness.

そそっかしくて切符きっぷを買かい間違まちがえた。

I was careless and bought the wrong ticket.

Usage そそっかしい人 — someone hasty who makes silly mistakes. Colloquial and fairly gentle as criticism. The noun is そそっかしさ.

Remember it そそっかしい → moving faster than the attention can keep up with.

負まけた後あとの言いい訳わけは見苦みぐるしい。

Making excuses after losing is unseemly.

Usage Unsightly in the sense of losing face before others. 見苦しい点はご容赦ください asks pardon for any shortcomings.

Remember it 見る (see) + 苦しい (painful) → painful for anyone who has to look at it.

厳きびしい先輩せんぱいは少すこし煙けむたい。

A strict senior colleague is someone you keep a little distance from.

Usage Literally smoky; the N1 sense is 〜が煙たい, finding someone hard to be around, usually a stern superior. Also 煙たがる, to shy away from someone.

Remember it 煙 (smoke) → the way you back off from smoke in your eyes.

これは由々ゆゆしい事態じたいだ。

This is a grave state of affairs.

Usage 由々しい事態, 由々しい問題 — serious and not to be brushed aside. It goes with almost nothing else. Formal and written. Read ゆゆしい.

Remember it 由々しい → grave enough that the word itself doubles for weight.

いやらしい目めで見みられて不快ふかいだった。

It was unpleasant to be looked at in that lewd way.

Usage Two senses: disagreeable, of a manner or remark; and indecent. The second is strong, so use the word with care. Also written 嫌らしい.

Remember it 嫌 (distaste) → what makes you want to look away.

場ばの雰囲気ふんいきにそぐわない服装ふくそうだった。

The clothes were out of keeping with the occasion.

Usage 〜にそぐわない — not in keeping with. Almost always negative; そぐう is barely used. More formal than 合わない.

Remember it そぐう (be in keeping) + ない → not matching the tone of the place.

その処分しょぶんでは手てぬるいという声こえが上あがった。

Voices were raised that the penalty was too lenient.

Usage Too soft, not strict enough. Always critical. Also written 手緩い. Opposite: 厳しい.

Remember it 手 (hand) + ぬるい (lukewarm) → a hand applied only lukewarmly.

堪たえ難がたい屈辱くつじょくを味あじわった。

I suffered an unbearable humiliation.

Usage The suffix 〜し難い, hard to do, is highly productive at N1: 理解し難い, 信じ難い. 堪え難い is what you cannot put up with. Read たえがたい.

Remember it 堪える (endure) + 難い (hard) → beyond what can be endured.

彼かれの影響えいきょう力りょくは計はかり知しれない。

His influence is immeasurable.

Usage 〜は計り知れない — too great to measure. Always negative in form. Common subjects: 影響力, 苦労, 損失, 可能性.

Remember it 計る (measure) + 知る (know) + ない → you cannot measure it and so cannot know it.

準備じゅんび不足ぶそくだったことは否いなめない。

It cannot be denied that our preparation was inadequate.

Usage 〜は否めない — a written pattern much used to concede a weak point, and much tested. The verb 否む means to refuse.

Remember it 否 (deny) + めない → there is no denying it.