い形容詞 V

あどけない寝顔ねがおに思おもわず微笑ほほえんだ。

I smiled despite myself at the innocent sleeping face.

Usage Innocent and guileless, said only of small children or their expressions. Affectionate, unlike 無邪気, which can be used of adults.

Remember it あどけない → nothing behind the face but what is on it.

幼おさない子こが必死ひっしに耐たえる姿すがたがいじらしい。

The sight of the little child bearing up is touching.

Usage Tender pity for someone small making an effort — a very Japanese blend of sympathy and admiration.

Remember it いじらしい → small enough to pity, brave enough to admire.

うら寂さびしい冬ふゆの海辺うみべを歩あるいた。

I walked along the forlorn winter shore.

Usage The prefix うら〜 means inwardly, faintly. うら寂しい is a lonely feeling that hangs about you. Same family: うら悲しい, うら寒い.

Remember it うら (inwardly) + 寂しい (lonely) → a loneliness felt somewhere behind the ribs.

私わたしが言いうのもおこがましいのですが。

It is presumptuous of me to say so, but...

Usage 〜のもおこがましいが — 'it is not my place to say this, but' — is a very common modest opening before offering an opinion to a superior.

Remember it おこがましい → speaking above the place you have been given.

かいがいしく看病かんびょうする姿すがたが印象いんしょう的てきだった。

The devoted way she nursed him made an impression.

Usage かいがいしく働く, かいがいしく世話する — devotedly, sparing no trouble. The adverb is the usual form. Complimentary.

Remember it 甲斐 (worth, effect) doubled → doing it in a way that shows in the result.

こころにくい演出えんしゅつに感心かんしんした。

I admired the tastefully judged staging.

Usage Admirably deft and tasteful. Note that it does NOT mean hateful, despite being written 心憎い — a classic trap.

Remember it 心 (heart) + 憎い (so good it is galling) → so well done you almost resent it.

こっぴどく叱しかられて落おち込こんだ。

I was told off severely and it got me down.

Usage こっぴどく叱られる, こっぴどく負ける — getting it badly. Colloquial. The こ〜 is an intensifying prefix on ひどい.

Remember it こ (intensifier) + ひどい (severe) → severe, with extra.

さもしい根性こんじょうは捨すてたほうがいい。

You would do better to be rid of that mean streak.

Usage Mean-spirited, petty out of self-interest. Contemptuous in tone. さもしい真似はするな means do not stoop to that.

Remember it さもしい → small-minded in the grasping way.

むごたらしい光景こうけいに目めを背そむけた。

I looked away from the ghastly sight.

Usage Gruesome enough to make you shudder. Stronger than むごい, because the suffix 〜たらしい heightens the distaste.

Remember it むごい (cruel) + たらしい (reeking of) → cruel, and reeking of it.

将来しょうらいを考かんがえるとそらおそろしくなる。

Thinking about the future gives me a vague dread.

Usage An uneasy fear with no clear cause. The prefix そら〜 means vague or groundless. Also written 空恐ろしい.

Remember it 空 (empty, vague) + 恐ろしい (frightening) → frightened, without being able to say of what.

とりとめない話はなしを夜通よどおし続つづけた。

We carried on a rambling conversation all night.

Usage とりとめない話 — talk with no shape to it. Also とりとめのない. Note that 命をとりとめる, to survive, is a different matter entirely.

Remember it 取り留め (a hold, a point) + ない → nothing in it to take hold of.

情なさけ深ぶかい人ひとに助たすけられた。

I was helped by a compassionate person.

Usage 情け is compassion. The proverb 情けは人の為ならず says that kindness done to others comes back to you.

Remember it 情け (compassion) + 深い (deep) → compassion that runs deep.

なまぬるい対応たいおうでは解決かいけつしない。

A half-hearted response will not solve it.

Usage Lukewarm; and the N1 sense of half-hearted and not firm enough. Close to 手ぬるい. The prefix なま〜 means half-done.

Remember it 生 (half, raw) + ぬるい (tepid) → neither hot nor cold.

勝かち誇ほこった顔かおがにくらしい。

That triumphant face is infuriating.

Usage Hateful, provoking. Also written 憎らしい. It can be inverted into affectionate praise: にくらしいほど上手い, so good it is annoying.

Remember it 憎い (hateful) + らしい → it has the look of something to resent.

実力じつりょくを出だし切きれず、はがゆい思おもいだ。

Not being able to show what I can do is frustrating.

Usage Impatient frustration at things falling short. Also written 歯痒い — an itch in the teeth you cannot scratch. Close to もどかしい.

Remember it 歯 (tooth) + 痒い (itchy) → an itch where you cannot reach.

注意ちゅういされてもふてぶてしい態度たいどのままだ。

Even after being warned his manner is still brazen.

Usage Unflinchingly brazen. Critical, though sometimes with grudging respect for the sheer nerve.

Remember it ふてる (be sullenly defiant) doubled → defiance that does not even bother to hide.

まばゆい朝日あさひに目めを細ほそめた。

I narrowed my eyes against the dazzling morning sun.

Usage Dazzling to look at; and まばゆいばかりの美しさ, beauty bright enough to blind. Also written 眩い. Close to まぶしい.

Remember it ま (eye) + ばゆい (glaring) → too bright to keep the eye on.

背中せなかがむずがゆくて仕方しかたがない。

My back is unbearably itchy.

Usage Itchy; and figuratively, squirming with embarrassment at being praised. The second sense is close to くすぐったい.

Remember it むず (a crawling sensation) + 痒い (itchy) → an itch you cannot quite place.

もっともらしい理由りゆうをつけて断ことわられた。

I was turned down with a plausible-sounding reason.

Usage Sounding reasonable but not to be trusted — the doubt is always part of it. Quite different from もっともだ, which grants that a point is fair.

Remember it もっとも (reasonable) + らしい (seeming) → it has the look of reason about it.

ものうい午後ごごの時間じかんが過すぎていく。

A languid afternoon drifts by.

Usage Listless, too heavy to stir. Also written 物憂い. The prefix もの〜 means faintly. Literary.

Remember it 物 (somewhat) + 憂い (melancholy) → a heaviness without a cause you can name.

今日きょうの君きみはらしくないね。

You are not yourself today.

Usage 〜らしくない — out of character: 君らしくない, not like you at all. The affirmative 〜らしい means characteristically so.

Remember it らしい (befitting) + ない → not matching the person you are.

一人ひとりの食卓しょくたくはわびしい。

Eating alone is a lonely business.

Usage Lonely, spare and a little sad. Also written 侘しい. It is bound up with 侘び寂び, the aesthetic of austere beauty.

Remember it 侘 (austere loneliness) → the loneliness of a bare room.

包帯ほうたいだらけの姿すがたが痛々いたいたしい。

The sight of him swathed in bandages is painful to see.

Usage 痛々しい姿 — painful for the onlooker. It describes what one sees. Close to 痛ましい, but 痛々しい is more about appearance.

Remember it 痛 (pain) doubled → the pain showing on the outside.

疑うたがい深ぶかい性格せいかくで損そんをしている。

His suspicious nature costs him.

Usage Suspicious by disposition. The suffix 〜深い means richly endowed with: 情け深い, 慎み深い, 興味深い.

Remember it 疑い (doubt) + 深い (deep) → doubt running deep in the character.

興味深きょうみぶかい指摘してきをいただいた。

You have raised an interesting point.

Usage Of real interest. More formal than 面白い, and standard in academic and business settings. Read きょうみぶかい.

Remember it 興味 (interest) + 深い (deep) → interest that goes deeper than idle curiosity.

十じゅう年ねん振ぶりの再会さいかいは感慨深かんがいぶかかった。

Meeting again after ten years was deeply moving.

Usage Full of feeling on looking back. Used at graduations, reunions and retirements. 感慨 is deep emotion. Read かんがいぶかい.

Remember it 感慨 (deep feeling) + 深い (deep) → feeling with years behind it.

昔むかしの写真しゃしんを見みると気恥きはずかしい。

Looking at old photographs makes me self-conscious.

Usage Mildly embarrassed. The prefix 気〜 softens it, so it is much lighter than 恥ずかしい. Read きはずかしい.

Remember it 気 (a touch of) + 恥ずかしい (embarrassed) → just a touch of embarrassment.

小賢こざかしい言いい訳わけはやめなさい。

Stop making cheeky excuses.

Usage Too clever by half, in a way that grates. The prefix 小〜 is belittling here. Read こざかしい.

Remember it 小 (petty) + 賢しい (clever) → clever in a small, irritating way.

生臭なまぐさい話はなしは聞ききたくない。

I would rather not hear talk that smells of money.

Usage Literally fishy; the N1 sense is reeking of money and worldliness. 生臭坊主 is a worldly priest who ignores his vows. Read なまぐさい.

Remember it 生 (raw) + 臭い (smelling) → the smell of raw flesh, and of worldly appetites.

涙なみだぐましい努力どりょくが実みのった。

Their touching efforts bore fruit.

Usage 涙ぐましい努力 — effort moving enough to bring tears — is all but fixed. 涙ぐむ is to be on the verge of tears. Read なみだぐましい.

Remember it 涙ぐむ (tears welling) + ましい → enough to bring the tears up.

話はなしが進すすまなくて焦じれったい。

It is frustrating that the talk is going nowhere.

Usage Impatient at how slowly things move. Colloquial. The verb is 焦れる. Close to もどかしい and はがゆい.

Remember it 焦 (scorch, fret) with the fire radical → fretting as though something were burning.

思おもい出だすだけで忌いま忌いましい。

It is vexing just to remember it.

Usage Galling, irritating. Also written いまいましい. From 忌む, to shun.

Remember it 忌 (shun) doubled → something you would rather not have in your head at all.

心置こころおきなく話はなせる相手あいてがいる。

I have someone I can talk to without holding back.

Usage 心置きなく — freely, with no reserve. The adverb is the usual form: 心置きなくどうぞ, please make yourself at home.

Remember it 心 (heart) + 置き (holding back) + ない → nothing of the heart held back.

手厳てきびしい評価ひょうかを受うけた。

We received a scathing assessment.

Usage 手厳しい批判, 手厳しい評価 — severe, pulling no punches. The prefix 手〜 intensifies. Opposite: 手ぬるい. Read てきびしい.

Remember it 手 (hand) + 厳しい (severe) → severity with a hand behind it.

情なさけ容赦ようしゃない取とり立たてに苦くるしんだ。

We suffered under merciless demands for payment.

Usage 情け容赦ない — without mercy or quarter. 容赦 is forbearance. Also used adverbially: 情け容赦なく. A fixed phrase.

Remember it 情け (mercy) + 容赦 (forbearance) + ない → neither mercy nor forbearance in it.

手抜てぬかりなく準備じゅんびを進すすめた。

We carried the preparations through with nothing overlooked.

Usage 手抜かりなく — thoroughly, with no slips. Close to ぬかりない, with 手 to stress the doing. Note that 手を抜く means to cut corners.

Remember it 手 (hand) + 抜かり (a slip) + ない → not a slip of the hand anywhere.

この上うえない喜よろこびです。

It is the greatest of pleasures.

Usage この上ない〜 — than which there is nothing greater. Formal. Also この上なく. Common in thanks and congratulations.

Remember it この上 (above this) + ない → nothing above this.

慎つつしみ深ぶかい態度たいどに好感こうかんを持もった。

I warmed to his modest manner.

Usage Modest and discreet. Complimentary. The verb is 慎む. Same 〜深い family as 情け深い and 疑い深い.

Remember it 慎み (restraint) + 深い (deep) → restraint that goes deep.

目新めあたらしい提案ていあんは特とくになかった。

There was nothing particularly novel in the proposals.

Usage New to the eye, not seen before. Distinct from 新しい, which is new in time. Often used in the negative. Read めあたらしい.

Remember it 目 (eye) + 新しい (new) → new to the eye looking at it.

古臭ふるくさい考かんがえ方かただと批判ひはんされた。

He was criticised for old-fashioned thinking.

Usage Stale and outdated — a criticism. The 臭い, smelling of, is what makes it critical. Unlike the neutral 古い. Read ふるくさい.

Remember it 古 (old) + 臭い (smelling of) → smelling of the age it came from.

水臭みずくさいことを言いうなよ、困こまったときは頼たよれ。

Don't be so distant — lean on me when you are in trouble.

Usage Literally watery, of food; the N1 sense is being needlessly formal with someone close. 水臭いぞ means 'why so standoffish?'. The second is the exam's.

Remember it 水 (water) + 臭い (smelling of) → watered down, when it should have been strong.