～っぽい

• 読み: っぽい
• ローマ字: ppoi
• 形: Noun + っぽい / Verb masu-stem + っぽい / Adj-い stem + っぽい

意味

A suffix meaning '-ish,' '-like,' or 'having the quality of,' used to indicate that someone or something has a notable or distinctive characteristic, often one that is not inherent.

っぽい attaches to nouns, verb stems, and adjective stems to indicate that something gives the impression of having a certain quality, often one that is incidental rather than essential. For example, 子どもっぽい means 'childish' (an adult acting like a child), and 忘れっぽい means 'forgetful' (prone to forgetting). When attached to nouns, it often implies that the quality is superficial or not genuine. With verb stems, it indicates a tendency. っぽい conjugates like an い-adjective (っぽくない, っぽかった). It has a slightly casual, sometimes mildly negative connotation compared to the more neutral らしい, which implies genuine or typical qualities.

例文

1. 三十歳なのに子どもっぽい行動をする。
2. 最近、忘れっぽくなったような気がする。
3. この色は白っぽくてはっきりしない。

使い方ガイド

場面: spoken, everyday

トーン: casual

正しい言い方

• 今日は暑くて夏っぽい天気だね。
• 彼女は怒りっぽいから気をつけて。
• この映画はちょっと安っぽい感じがした。
• 飽きっぽい性格だから、長く続かない。

避ける言い方

• 子どもらしいのに大人っぽい。(Confusing っぽい and らしい — 子どもらしい means 'acting appropriately child-like,' while 子どもっぽい means 'childish in a negative sense') → 子どもらしくて元気がいい。
• 忘れるっぽくなった。(Using dictionary form instead of masu-stem — the correct form is 忘れっぽい, from the masu-stem 忘れ) → 忘れっぽくなった。
• 水っぽいのスープだ。(Using の after っぽい to modify a noun — っぽい conjugates like an い-adjective, so it directly modifies: 水っぽいスープ) → 水っぽいスープだ。

起源と歴史

っぽい developed from the classical suffix ぽし, which indicated a tendency or inclination. Over time it became a productive colloquial suffix in modern Japanese, commonly used in casual description.

文化的背景

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal