Common word› JLPT N2 › Freq. Frequency Top 1,000 Conjugation っぽい · i-adjective
Form Positive Negative Dictionary っぽい っぽくない Polite っぽいです っぽくないです also っぽくありません Past polite っぽかったです っぽくなかったです also っぽくありませんでした Past っぽかった っぽくなかった Te-form っぽくて っぽくなくて Adverbial っぽく Conditional っぽければ っぽくなければ Tara conditional っぽかったら っぽくなかったら
Usage patterns 〈 名めい 詞し 〉 っぽい -ish, having the quality of 〈noun〉
He talks in a childish way.
〈 形けい 容よう 詞し 〉 っぽい seems rather 〈adjective〉
This clothing is a somewhat cheap-looking color.
〈 動どう 詞し 〉 ますの 語ご 幹かん ＋ っぽい tends to do 〈verb〉; has a habit of 〈verb〉
She has a forgetful personality.
Related words· 9 らしい suggests a typical, often admirable quality (男らしい 'manly'), while っぽい often implies a superficial or slightly negative resemblance (男っぽい 'mannish-looking').
みたい is a broad, colloquial 'like/similar to' usable with nouns, verbs, and clauses, whereas っぽい attaches mainly to nouns/adjective stems to describe an inherent quality or tendency.
チック is a colloquial, trendy suffix borrowed from English '-tic', while っぽい is the native Japanese suffix for '-ish' and is more neutral and widely usable.
っぽい is a neutral, everyday suffix meaning '-ish' or 'seems like', while たらしい adds a stronger, usually negative or derogatory nuance.
Show 5 more Show fewer っぽい is a colloquial suffix meaning '-ish' that often carries a negative or casual nuance (子供っぽい 'childish'), while めく is more literary and describes an atmosphere or quality emerging (春めく 'spring-like').
っぽい is an i-adjective suffix meaning '-ish' and often carries a slightly negative or casual nuance, while がかる is a verb suffix that sounds more literary and descriptive of an overall impression.
っぽい is a casual, often subjective or slightly negative way to say “-ish,” whereas 的 is more neutral and can attach to a wider range of formal or abstract nouns.
っぽい is a casual spoken suffix meaning 'looks/seems like' and attaches broadly to nouns, whereas げ is more restrained and typically attaches to adjective stems in written or descriptive style.
っぽい is the general suffix meaning '-ish' that attaches to many nouns, while それっぽい is the specific combination with それ meaning 'like that' or 'that sort of thing'.
Word family· 46 cheap-looking; tawdry; insignificant
sexy; amorous; erotic; voluptuous
darkish; blackish; dark
whitish; pale; light-colored · amateurish; inexperienced; green
argumentative; quarrelsome; given to reasoning
Show 15 more Show fewer watery; soggy; diluted · racy; suggestive; sexy
feverish; slightly feverish · enthusiastic; passionate; heated
damp; humid; wet · gloomy; melancholy; depressing
bluish; greenish · immature; inexperienced; green; naive
vulgar; tasteless; cheap; low-brow
manly; masculine; boyish
childish; immature; childlike
easily bored; quick to lose interest; fickle
modern; current; trendy
contrived; false-sounding; unconvincing
dusty; dust-covered
womanly; feminine; effeminate
baddish; badish; seemingly bad
greasy; fatty; oily
smoky
See all 46 in Explore →
Written forms っぽい Usage 93%
Standard kana suffix; no kanji form exists.
ぽい Usage 7%
Variant used after ん , e.g. 男んぽい , though っぽい is more common.
Etymology The origin of the suffix っぽい is uncertain. It has long formed adjectives expressing a noticeable tendency, quality, or resemblance.
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