ずるい

• 読み: ずるい
• ローマ字: zurui
• 漢字の分解: 狡 (kou/zurui) — cunning, sly
• 発音: /zɯ.ɾɯ.i/

意味

Sly; cunning; unfair; sneaky. Describes a person or action that gains advantage through dishonest or self-serving means at others' expense.

An i-adjective expressing moral disapproval of selfish cleverness. Often used when someone benefits by bypassing rules, exploiting loopholes, or shifting burdens onto others. Commonly heard as a child's accusation (ずるい！That's not fair!) but equally applied in adult contexts—politics, business, and personal relationships. Distinct from 賢い (clever, neutral or positive); ずるい always implies a breach of fairness. Often written in hiragana; kanji 狡い is found in formal and literary texts.

例文

1. 自分だけ先に抜け出しておいて後始末は人任せなんて、本当にずるい。
2. 規則の抜け穴を巧みに利用するあのやり方は、合法でもずるいと感じる。
3. ずるい人は短期的には得をしても、長期的には信頼を失っていく。

使い方ガイド

場面: social behaviour, criticism, fairness, children, ethics

トーン: negative

起源と歴史

The kanji 狡 combines 犭 (animal radical) and 交 (intertwine), evoking the cunning of a wily animal. The word has roots in classical Japanese and appears in literature from the Heian period onward to describe sly behaviour.

文化的背景

時代: Classical–Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal