Word
凄い
Meaning in Englishamazing, incredible, intense
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
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Word context
What it means
What does 凄い (sugoi) mean? 凄い (sugoi) is a common spoken adjective meaning something is remarkable or elicits a strong reaction, used to label events, things, or performances that stand out to the speaker.
Main meanings
- 1. As an intensifier: used to convey a very high degree (colloquially equivalent to 'very').
- 2. As an exclamatory reaction: a short, spontaneous interjection expressing surprise or awe.
- 3. Negative/ominous sense: can describe something overwhelming in a bad or frightening way (dreadful, severe).
- 4. Praise of ability or quality: used to compliment skill, appearance, or achievement emphatically.
- 5. Register variation: appears in slang and contracted forms with stronger or rougher tone in casual speech.
How to use it
Used primarily in everyday spoken Japanese and informal writing (social media, reviews, casual conversation) to react to or describe striking impressions; less common in formal academic or business texts, though polite forms exist in conversation, and it frequently appears in expressive headlines and marketing to grab attention.
Variants and close terms
- すばらしい (subarashii) — wonderful
- すげー (sugee) — slang/rough form meaning awesome
- すごく (sugoku) — adverbial form meaning very
- つまらない (tsumaranai) — boring (antonym)
- 平凡な (heibon na) — ordinary (antonym)
Composition
- 凄: the kanji conveys extreme, severe, or striking qualities and carries the nuance of something intense or formidable.
- the ending -い marks the adjective as an i-adjective, forming the full word 凄い (sugoi).
Word class
adjective (i-adjective, 形容詞 / い-adjective)
Kanji