めでたい

• 読み: めでたい
• ローマ字: medetai
• 発音: /me.de.ta.i/

意味

Auspicious; happy; joyous; celebratory. Also used ironically to mean naive or simple-minded.

An i-adjective with two distinct registers. In its primary, sincere use, めでたい describes occasions, events, or outcomes that are happily auspicious — births, weddings, promotions, New Year. In its ironic use, めでたい人 means a naive, gullible, or blissfully unaware person — someone so optimistic they fail to perceive reality. Context determines which meaning is intended; the ironic sense is increasingly common in conversational Japanese.

例文

1. 今日は誠におめでとうございます。めでたい席に招いていただき光栄です。
2. 還暦のお祝いという、まことにめでたい機会に乾杯しましょう。
3. 騙されてまだ信じているなんて、なんともめでたい人だ。

使い方ガイド

場面: celebrations, ceremonies, New Year, irony, social comment

トーン: joyous or ironic depending on context

起源と歴史

From Classical Japanese めでたし (medetashi), derived from 愛でる (mederu — to love, to appreciate beauty) + たし (tashi — desirable, worthy). Originally meant 'admirable, worthy of appreciation', which evolved into 'auspicious, joyous'.

文化的背景

時代: Classical to Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: General