嫌
Meaning in Englishunpleasant, unwilling, disagreeable
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Word context
What it means
What does 嫌 mean? It denotes a feeling of dislike or aversion toward someone or something, indicating that it is undesirable or not to the speaker’s taste; used in everyday speech as 嫌だ, 嫌い, or 嫌な to describe feelings or reactions.
Main meanings
- Expresses personal dislike or aversion toward a person, thing, or situation.
- Describes something as unpleasant, disagreeable, or undesirable.
- In compounds and fixed phrases, conveys nuance of nuisance or revulsion, such as 嫌悪 (ken'o) and 嫌味 (iyami).
How to use it
Used to express dislike, aversion, or a sense that something is undesirable in both casual and formal speech. Common forms include 嫌だ for a general feeling of unpleasantness, 嫌い to state a dislike, and 嫌な to describe something as disagreeable when modifying a noun.
Variants and close terms
- 嫌い kirai — dislike
- 嫌だ iyada — it is unpleasant / I don’t want to
- 好ましくない konomashikunai — undesirable
- 嫌味 iyami — sarcasm
- 嫌悪 ken’o — aversion or disgust
Etymology
Origin and phonology 嫌 is a native kanji carrying a semantic element tied to displeasure, with a phonetic component that supports both the on‑yomi ken and the kun‑yomi iya; the on‑yomi is used in compounds while the kun‑yomi appears in standalone forms and common phrases.
Word class
na-adjective (形容動詞)