危ない
Meaning in Englishdangerous, risky
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
危ない means dangerous or risky; it describes situations, actions, or objects that pose harm and is commonly used to warn others or flag hazards; as an い-adjective, it can modify a noun directly or appear in statements and warnings.
Main meanings
- dangerous or hazardous in general contexts
- used to warn someone about immediate risk
- expresses a near-miss or near danger in phrases like ところだった
How to use it
Primarily used in casual spoken Japanese to warn others or describe danger, and in signs or instructions to indicate hazards; in formal writing, 危ない is less common and 危険です may be preferred for safety statements; it can stand alone as a warning or appear with particles to describe a dangerous situation in context.
Variants and close terms
- 危険な — dangerous (kiken na)
- あぶねえ (abunee) — informal, rough spoken variant
Composition
- 危: danger, risk
- ない: negative suffix turning the word into an i-adjective
Etymology
危なし (abunashi) was the classical form; the word later contracted to 危ない (abunai) in modern Japanese as the -ashi ending shifted to -ai, reflecting a common phonetic evolution from classical to modern i-adjectives.
Origin
Origin in classical Japanese as 危なし (abunashi); later usage broadened and the modern form 危ない established in the early modern period, becoming ubiquitous in everyday speech.
Word class
adjective (i-adjective) (形容詞・イ形容詞)