Japanese Vocabulary for Adjectives

When you begin to study Japanese vocabulary, no doubt you will come across the part on adjectives.

This section is dedicated to the most common vocabulary for adjectives.

Without adjectives you cannot describe things you see, give more information on objects, express your own feelings.

Japanese people are in particularly more concern on personal feelings. Hence there are quite a number of adjectives used to describe emotions.

You might have already learned that there are 2 groups of Japanese adjectives, i-adjectives and na-adjectives.

i-adjectives are adjectives ended with "い", whereas na-adjectives are mostly adjectives ended without "い", though there are some exceptions.

I will divide the Japanese vocabulary list into these 2 groups.

Japanese Vocabulary for i-Adjectives

Kanji Hiragana Romaji Meaning
1. 新しい あたらしい atarashii New
2. 古い ふるい furui Old
3. 厚い あつい atsui Thick (books)
4. 薄い うすい usui Thin
5. 暑い あつい atsui Hot (weather)
6. 寒い さむい samui Cold / Chilly (weather)
7. 暖かい あたたかい atatakai Warm (weather)
8. 涼しい すずしい suzushii Cool (weather)
9. 熱い あつい atsui Hot (drink)
10. 冷たい つめたい tsumetai Cold (drink)
11. 温かい あたたかい atatakai Warm (drink)
12. 大きい おおきい ookii Big
13. 小さい ちいさい chiisai Small
14. 重い おもい omoi Heavy
15. 軽い かるい karui Light (weight)
16. 面白い おもしろい omoshiroi Interesting
17. 詰まらない つまらない tsumaranai Dull / Boring
18. 広い ひろい hiroi Wide
19. 狭い せまい semai Narrow
20. 高い たかい takai High / Tall (height)
21. 低い ひくい hikui Low / Short (height)
22. 高い たかい takai Expensive
23. 安い やすい yasui Cheap
24. 長い ながい nagai Long (length)
25. 短い みじかい mijikai Short (length)
26. 太い ふとい futoi Fat/Thick
27. 細い ほそい hosoi Thin / Slender / Narrow
28. 美味しい おいしい oishii Tasty
29. 不味い まずい mazui Unappetizing / Tasteless
30. 難しい むずかしい muzukashii Difficult
31. 易しい やさしい yasashii Easy / Simple
32. 良い いい / よい ii / yoi Good / Nice / OK / Prefer
33. 悪い わるい warui Bad / Wicked
34. 可愛い かわいい kawaii Cute / Pretty
35. 赤い あかい akai Red
36. 青い あおい aoi Blue
37. 白い しろい shiroi White
38. 黒い くろい kuroi Black
39. 丸い まるい marui Round
40. 甘い あまい amai Sweet
41. 辛い からい karai Hot / Spicy (taste)
42. 固い かたい katai Hard
43. 柔らかい やわらかい yawarakai Soft
44. 近い ちかい chikai Near
45. 遠い とおい tooi Far
46. 早い はやい hayai Early
47. 速い はやい hayai Fast / Quick
48. 遅い おそい osoi Late / Slow
49. 明るい あかるい akarui Bright / Light
50. 暗い くらい kurai Dark / Gloomy
51. 忙しい いそがしい isogashii Busy
52. 楽しい たのしい tanoshii Enjoyable / Fun
53. 多い おおい ooi Many / Plenty
54. 少ない すくない sukunai Few / Little
55. 汚い きたない kitanai Dirty
56. 眠い ねむい nemui Sleepy
57. 若い わかい wakai Young
58. 強い つよい tsuyoi Strong / Tough
59. 弱い よわい yowai Weak
60. 痛い いたい itai Painful
61. 危ない あぶない abunai Dangerous
62. 正しい ただしい tadashii Correct / Right

Japanese Vocabulary for na-Adjectives

Kanji Hiragana Romaji Meaning
1. 賑やか にぎやか nigiyaka Lively / Bustling / Busy
2. 静か しずか shizuka Quiet
3. 奇麗 きれい (*) kirei Beautiful / Clean
4. 好き すき suki Like / Love / Favorite
5. 嫌い きらい (*) kirai Dislike / Hate / Least Favorite
6. 丈夫 じょうぶ joubu Strong / Robust / Healthy
7. 色々 いろいろ iroiro Various
8. 親切 しんせつ shinsetsu Kind
9. 元気 げんき genki Healthy / Vigorous / Energetic
10. 便利 べんり benri Convenient
11. 簡単 かんたん kantan Simple / Easy
12. 複雑 ふくざつ fukuzatsu Complicated
13. 暇 ひま hima Free (time)
14. 上手 じょうず jouzu Skillfull / Good at
15. 下手 へた heta Unskillful / Poor at
16. 新鮮 しんせん shinsen Fresh
17. 素敵 すてき suteki Wonderful / Lovely / Cool
18. 大丈夫 だいじょうぶ daijoubu All Right / No Problem
19. 丁寧 ていねい teinei Polite
20. 有名 ゆうめい (*) yuumei Famous
21. 変 へん hen Strange / Odd
22. 残念 ざんねん zannen Regrettable / Sorry / Pity
23. 安全 あんぜん anzen Safe

Note: na-adjectives with (*) sign are those ended with "い"

The Japanese vocabulary for adjectives shown above should be adequate for people studying the basic course.

But if are interested to find out what is the best adjective that describes your personality and how to make sentence using it, make sure you check out these additional adjectives that best describe one's personalities.

By the way, this link above is an affiliate link, which means that I would earn a commission if you do end up purchasing the related learning course. It's at no extra cost to you, and please if you have any questions related to this learning course, please let me know and I would be happy to answer them for you.

 

 

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