Word
親友
Meaning in Englishclose friend, best friend
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
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Word context
What it means
親友 means a close, trusted friend—someone with whom you share deep confidences and a long-standing bond. It signals a relationship that goes beyond ordinary friendship.
Main meanings
- deep bond and mutual trust beyond casual friendship
- often used with 私の to denote one’s own close friend
- found in personal writing and conversations to convey loyalty and intimacy
How to use it
Used to denote a very close, trusted friend; in casual speech, 私の親友 or 親友がいる; in formal writing, 親友 as a strong label in descriptions; it appears with particles such as 私の親友と過ごす and 親友に感謝する, emphasizing the depth of the relationship.
Variants and close terms
- 親しい友人 (shitashii yūjin) — close friend
- 友達 (tomodachi) — friend
- 知り合い (shiriai) — acquaintance
Composition
- 親: intimate, close; conveys affection and proximity
- 友: friend; companion or ally
- Combining these two concepts forms a term for a person who is a deeply trusted, close companion
Etymology
しんゆう is the on'yomi reading formed from 親 and 友; the phonetic evolution reflects Sino-Japanese phonology, with a long vowel indicated by う in 友, yielding shin'yū in standard romanization.
Word class
Noun (名詞)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N3
親しい
shitashii
close, intimate, familiar
N3
親戚
shinseki
relative, relatives
N3
友好
yuukou
friendship, friendly relations
N3
友情
yuujou
friendship, fellowship
N3
友人
yuujin
friend, formal friend
N3
父親
chichioya
father, paternal figure
N4
親切
shinsetsu
kindness, helpfulness
N4
親
oya
parent, parents
N5
両親
ryoushin
parents
Kanji