Word
優しい
Meaning in Englishkind, gentle
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
Related sentences
Related sentences
There are no published items in this section yet.
Word context
What it means
What does 優しい mean? It means being considerate, warm-hearted, and easy to approach; describes people, actions, or tones that show care and kindness.
Main meanings
- core meaning: kind or gentle in character or behavior
- nuances of warmth, thoughtfulness, and consideration toward others
- applied to people, actions, or demeanor, and sometimes to tone of voice
How to use it
Used as an i-adjective to describe people, behavior, or tones that show care; in practice, it modifies nouns directly as 優しい人, 優しい声. The adverbial form is 優しく, used to describe how an action is performed, as in 優しく話す or 優しく接する; polite and casual registers both common, with polite forms 優しいです and 優しくします.
Variants and close terms
- 親切な (しんせつな) — kind, helpful
- 温和な (おんわな) — gentle, mild
- 思いやりのある (おもいやりのある) — considerate
- 冷たい (つめたい) — cold, unfriendly (antonym)
Composition
- 優: core sense of gentleness and benevolence;
- しい: adjective-ending suffix turning the base into an i-adjective
Etymology
Etimology The kanji 優 has on-yomi ユウ and kun-yomi やさ-; in 優しい the kun-reading やさ- combines with the adjective suffix しい to form the native Japanese i-adjective meaning gentle or kind.
Word class
adjective (i-adjective)
Kanji