prefix
Negative prefix used in Sino-Japanese compounds to indicate absence or negation. Productive but mostly in established words.
無関心な態度を取る。
Take an indifferent attitude.
無意味な議論はやめよう。
Let's stop this meaningless discussion.
prefix
Prefix indicating something is bad, poor, or lacking in quality. Less common than the simple negative sense; found in words like 無愛想 (brusque) or 無作法 (rude).
彼の無愛想な返事に驚いた。
I was surprised by his curt reply.
無作法な振る舞いは避けるべきだ。
You should avoid rude behavior.
Another common negative prefix, often used in similar contexts. 不 (ふ) is more frequent in everyday words like 不便 (inconvenient), while 無 (ぶ) often appears in more abstract or formal compounds.
Also a negative prefix, but 非 tends to mean 'non-' or 'anti-' with a stronger sense of opposition or deviation from a norm, e.g., 非現実的 (unrealistic).
Sino-Japanese prefix derived from Middle Chinese, corresponding to the concept of 'not having' or 'lacking'. The kanji 無 is used for its meaning of 'nothingness' or 'absence'.