頼もしい
Meaning in Englishreliable, promising
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
What does 頼もしい mean? It means that someone or something inspires confidence; dependable; capable of being relied on; reassuring. It is used to describe people or situations that give confidence and suggest that support, competence, or help will come when needed.
Main meanings
- reliable and dependable in character or performance
- reassuring or hopeful regarding outcomes of a plan or proposal
- descriptive of a person whose actions inspire trust in others
How to use it
Used in both casual and formal Japanese to describe people, plans, services, or evidence that inspire confidence. In conversation, it praises someone's reliability or capability; in writing, it evaluates the dependability of a proposal, teamwork, or an outcome. It often accompanies nouns such as a person, plan, or object that you can trust or rely on.
Variants and close terms
- 信頼できる (shinrai dekiru) — reliable
- 頼りになる (tayori ni naru) — dependable
- 頼りない (tayorinai) — unreliable
Composition
- 頼: to rely on, to trust
- もしい: adjectival suffix turning the stem into an i-adjective
Etymology
From the verb tanomu, with the adjectival suffix -shii forming the i-adjective that marks a quality expressed as a property of the subject.
Word class
adjective (形容詞, i-adjective)