っぽい-ish; quick to
A casual "-ish": something has the feel of a thing, often more than is good. After a few verbs it is "quick to": quick to forget, quick to get angry.
quick to
My older brother is quick-tempered, but he soon gets over it.
-ish
Noun + っぽい ／ い-adjective stem + っぽい
子ども → 子どもっぽい, 安い → 安っぽい. Few adjectives take it, mostly colors.
Quick to
Verb ます-stem + っぽい
Only a handful of verbs: 忘れっぽい, 怒りっぽい, 飽きっぽい.
- After it
- It changes like an い-adjective: っぽくない, っぽかった, っぽくなる.
- Where you'll meet it
- Conversation and casual writing.
The words you will hear
大人っぽいgrown-up for your age
You look grown-up in that outfit.
安っぽいcheap-looking
The design of this watch looks a little cheap.
黒っぽいblackish, dark
He was wearing a dark jacket.
熱っぽいfeverish
I feel a little feverish today, so I'm going to bed early.
飽きっぽいeasily bored
She gets bored easily, so her hobbies keep changing.
A criticism or a compliment?
It is mostly said of what isn't the real thing, or shouldn't be like it. So 子どもっぽい criticises someone too old to act that way, and 大人っぽい praises someone young. Colors carry no judgment.
忘れがち or 忘れっぽい?
My father tends to forget to take his medicine.
What keeps happening: one particular slip, again and again.
My father is forgetful.
What he is like: forgetful by nature. Casual.
As a guess, among friends
It also follows a noun or a plain form as a guess, like みたい. Slang: not for work or careful writing.
That story sounds a bit made up.
Looks like Tanaka isn't coming today.
Close neighbours
らしいN4
子どもらしい is "as a child should be": usually said of a real child, and approving.
The children were playing covered in mud, just as children should.
みたいN4
子どもみたい is a plain comparison, "like a child". It can be fond or critical.
When my grandfather plays with his grandchildren, he laughs like a child.
がちN3
After a verb stem or a noun: it tends to happen, again and again over time, and is mostly unwelcome. 忘れがち, 遅れがち, 病気がち, ありがち.
I was often ill as a child.
気味N3
After a noun or a verb stem: a touch of something, mostly unwelcome, that you feel or notice now or lately. 風邪気味, 疲れ気味, 太り気味.
When you feel a cold coming on, it's best to rest early.
だらけN3
After a noun: covered in or full of something unwelcome that you can see or count. 泥だらけ, 傷だらけ, 間違いだらけ.
The shirt is covered in mud.
Check yourself
1Which one fits?
彼は
Choose an answer to see why.
2What does this say about her?
妹は
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
This curry is watery and doesn't taste of much.
This room is dusty, so let's open a window.
Lately I've become more forgetful than I used to be.
Isn't that joke a little childish?