Word
優しい
Meaning in Englishkind, gentle
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
What does 優しい mean? It means being considerate, warm-hearted, and easy to approach; describes people, actions, or tones that show care and kindness.
Main meanings
- core meaning: kind or gentle in character or behavior
- nuances of warmth, thoughtfulness, and consideration toward others
- applied to people, actions, or demeanor, and sometimes to tone of voice
How to use it
Used as an i-adjective to describe people, behavior, or tones that show care; in practice, it modifies nouns directly as 優しい人, 優しい声. The adverbial form is 優しく, used to describe how an action is performed, as in 優しく話す or 優しく接する; polite and casual registers both common, with polite forms 優しいです and 優しくします.
Variants and close terms
- 親切な (しんせつな) — kind, helpful
- 温和な (おんわな) — gentle, mild
- 思いやりのある (おもいやりのある) — considerate
- 冷たい (つめたい) — cold, unfriendly (antonym)
Composition
- 優: core sense of gentleness and benevolence;
- しい: adjective-ending suffix turning the base into an i-adjective
Etymology
Etimology The kanji 優 has on-yomi ユウ and kun-yomi やさ-; in 優しい the kun-reading やさ- combines with the adjective suffix しい to form the native Japanese i-adjective meaning gentle or kind.
Word class
adjective (i-adjective)