似合う
Meaning in Englishsuit, look good on, match
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
What does 似合う mean? It denotes that a person or thing harmonizes in appearance or style, fitting well with the wearer’s look, personality, or the surrounding context.
Main meanings
- Becoming in clothing or accessories that flatter the wearer.
- Colors, patterns, or styles that harmonize with a person’s features or overall look.
- Broader use to describe anything that fits a situation or role, not limited to fashion.
How to use it
Used to describe appearance in fashion and styling, with items such as clothing, colors, hairstyles, or accessories; commonly framed as [X]は[Y]に似合う in casual and polite speech; the construction accepts negation as 似合わない to express that something does not suit; frequent in compliments and style advice.
Variants and close terms
- 映える haeru — to stand out or look striking
- ふさわしい fusawashii — appropriate, fitting
- 似合わない niwanai — not suited
Composition
- 似: to resemble, similarity
- 合: to fit, to match
Etymology
Phonetic evolution The pronunciation にあう arises from a native combination where 似 contributes the phoneme に and 合う supplies あう; the word is formed as a native Japanese compound rather than a loan or semantic portmanteau.
Word class
Verb (godan)