This article will give you all of the knowledge you need on the Japanese word kirai, including its Japanese definition and translation, example sentences, related expressions and more!
Contents
What does kirai mean?
The Japanese word kirai (嫌い、きらい) means hate or strongly dislike. It has the opposite meaning to suki (好き), which means like. Naturally, kirai is a strong word, so Japanese will often use other terms such as suki jyanai (好きじゃない, don’t like) or nigate (苦手, dislike) that are a bit softer in tone.
Below, we take a look at some examples of how to use kirai in Japanese.
To make it easier for you, I have written each sentence in full Japanese kanji on the first line, followed by roman letters (romaji), and hiragana, with the English meaning coming last.
Example sentences using kirai
その人が嫌い！
Sono hito ga kirai!
そのひとがきらい！
I hate him! (lit: I hate that person!)
私は納豆が嫌いです。
Watashi wa nattou ga kirai desu.
わたしはなっとうがきらいです。
I hate natto.
彼は掃除が嫌いらしい。
Kare wa souji ga kirai rashii.
かれはそうじがきらいらしい。
Apparently he loathes cleaning.
勉強は好きだけど、数学は嫌い。
Benkyou wa suki dakedo, suugaku wa kirai.
べんきょうはすきだけど、すうがくはきらい。
I like studying, but I can’t stand math.
自分の体がすごく嫌いです。
Jibun no karada ga sugoku kirai desu.
じぶんのからだがすごくきらいです。
I really hate my own body.
嫌いなわけじゃないけど、好きでもない。
Kirai na wake jyanai kedo, suki de mo nai.
きらいなわけじゃないけど、すきでもない。
It’s not that I hate it, but I don’t like it either.
Daikirai = Really hate
Daikirai (大嫌い、だいきらい) means really hate or detest. The kanji characters spell it out literally – big (大) and hate (嫌). Bear in mind, kirai is already a strong word by Japanese standards, so daikirai is for when you really, really want to announce your loathing of something to the whole world!
あのおばさんが大嫌い！
Ano obasan ga daikirai!
あのおばさんがだいきらい!
I really hate that (older) woman!
Toning it down: Go softer and indirect
Japanese people are generally pretty reserved by nature. Especially when talking about negative things with colleagues or strangers. The Japanese language reflects these tendencies. Therefore, you may want to tone down your own language to match your Japanese counterparts. That is, unless you want to be the stereotypical foreigner who ignores the unwritten societal rules!
As mentioned above, terms like suki jyanai and nigate are good ways to soften your language. You can also add a kamoshirenai (かもしれない) at the end of the sentence or kamo (かも; casual), which literally mean maybe. Another possible choice is chotto (ちょっと), which stands for kind of in this context. These words all make the statement more indirect.
料理は美味しいけど、お店の雰囲気はあまり好きじゃないかも。
Ryouri wa oishii kedo, omise no funiki wa amari suki jyanai kamo.
りょうりはおいしいけど、おみせのふんいきはあまりすきじゃないかも。
The food is nice, but I don’t really like the atmosphere of the place.
苦手な料理はパクチーです。
Nigate na ryouri wa pakuchii desu.
にがてなりょうりはぷくちーです。
I’m not a big fan of cilantro.
Rohan's favorite resource for learning Japanese is JapanesePod101, one of the best tools for getting started with the language. Sign up for a free lifetime account here.
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