Word
懐かしい
Meaning in Englishdear, desired, missed
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
Related sentences
Related sentences
There are no published items in this section yet.
Word context
What it means
懐かしい describes a warm, nostalgic feeling toward something from the past, often accompanied by fond memories of people, places, or experiences.
Main meanings
- nostalgic or fondly remembered toward a past time or person
- evoking a wistful longing rather than sadness
- commonly used for memories, places, songs, scents, and moments that feel familiar
- usable in both casual conversation and literary writing
How to use it
Used to describe a warm, nostalgic feeling toward something from the past; common in casual speech and neutral writing; can modify nouns directly as 懐かしい思い出 or appear in phrases with 思う or 感じる.
Variants and close terms
- 恋しい (koishii) — longing, dear
- 郷愁を誘う (kyōshū o sasou) — to evoke nostalgia
- ノスタルジック (nosutarujikku) — nostalgic (loanword)
- 新しい (atarashii) — new (antonym)
- 現代的 (gendai-teki) — modern/futuristic (antonym)
Composition
- 懐: chest/heart; symbolizing something kept in the heart or cherished
- かしい: adjectival suffix that turns the stem into a descriptive adjective
- the combination expresses a feeling kept in the heart toward the past
Etymology
natsukashii is formed from 懐く (to yearn/feel attached) plus the attributive suffix しい, producing an adjective that expresses the sentiment of nostalgia toward the past; the pronunciation preserves the familiar 'natsu' segment.
Word class
adjective (い-adjective)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
Kanji