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ほっぺた Japanese meaning | Kotomora

ほっぺた

ほ

っ

ぺ

た

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

colloquialusually written using kana alone

Colloquial word for cheek, often used in casual speech and with children.

赤あかちゃんのほっぺたは柔やわらかい。
A baby's cheeks are soft.
彼かの女じょは

恥は

ずかし

そう

に

ほっぺた

を

赤あか

らめ

た

。

She blushed, her cheeks turning red.

Written forms

ほっぺたUsage74%
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms are rare.
頰ほっぺたUsage15%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare variant kanji form.
ホッペタUsage6%
頬ほっぺたUsage4%
Rare kanji spelling; the word is normally written in kana.
頬ほっ辺ぺた
rarely-used kanji form
Rare variant kanji form.
頰ほっ辺ぺた
rarely-used kanji form
Rare variant kanji form.

Kanji

頬cheeks, jaw
頰cheeks, jaw
辺environs, boundary, border

Similar words

頬ほお
ほお is the standard, more formal word for cheek; ほっぺた is colloquial and often used in casual or affectionate contexts.
ほっぺ
ほっぺ is another colloquial variant, often used in baby talk or very casual speech, similar to ほっぺた.

Etymology

The word is a colloquial form derived from 頬 (ほお, 'cheek') with the addition of the diminutive suffix っぺた, giving it a softer, more informal feel. The exact derivation is uncertain.