甘あまみ

あ

ま

み

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

noun

Refers to the taste, quality, or degree of sweetness in food and drink. 甘み is the safest everyday spelling for this sense.

この梨なしは甘あまみが強つよい。
This pear has a strong sweetness.
玉たまねぎをよく炒いためると甘あまみが出でる。
If you sauté the onions well, their sweetness comes out.

2

noun

sweets; dessert; cake

Only when written 甘味 · Only with reading あまみ

A less straightforward use of あまみ for sweet foods or dessert; it is especially associated with the spelling 甘味, which can also be read かんみ in related modern usage.

「甘あま味み」を「あまみ」と読よむ場ば合あい、甘あまい菓か子しやデザートを指さすことがある。
When 甘味 is read as あまみ, it can refer to sweet confections or dessert.

Written forms

甘あまみUsage51%
Common modern spelling for the taste or quality of sweetness, formed with the kana suffix み.
甘あま味みUsage48%
ateji (phonetic kanji usage)
Attested kanji spelling marked as ateji for the reading あまみ; the same spelling may be read differently in other words, so context matters.
あまみUsage1%
あま味みUsage<1%
search-only kanji form
Search-only mixed spelling; not recommended as a normal display spelling.

Kanji

甘sweet, coax, pamper
味flavor, taste

Similar words

甘あまさ
Also means sweetness, but 甘さ often measures how sweet something is, while 甘み often feels like the flavor quality itself.
甘あまい物もの
The ordinary everyday expression for sweets or sweet food; less ambiguous than the rare dessert sense of あまみ.
甘かん味み
A closely related reading of the same kanji spelling, commonly used for sweetness and sweet foods; do not assume 甘味 is read あまみ without context.

Etymology

甘み is transparently formed from 甘い, 'sweet,' plus the nominalizing suffix み, which makes a noun meaning a quality or feeling. 甘味 for the reading あまみ is ateji.