Word
親友
Meaning in Englishclose friend, best friend
Animated kanji stroke order
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)