わかりにくい

わ

か

り

に

く

い

分かりにくい · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	分わかりにくい	分わかりにくくない
Polite	分わかりにくいです	分わかりにくくないですalso 分わかりにくくありません
Past polite	分わかりにくかったです	分わかりにくくなかったですalso 分わかりにくくありませんでした
Past	分わかりにくかった	分わかりにくくなかった
Te-form	分わかりにくくて	分わかりにくくなくて
Adverbial	分わかりにくく
Conditional	分わかりにくければ	分わかりにくくなければ
Tara conditional	分わかりにくかったら	分わかりにくくなかったら

Meanings

i-adjective

hard to understand; incomprehensible; unintelligible

usually written using kana alone

Describes something that is difficult to grasp, follow, or make sense of; can refer to explanations, instructions, behavior, or situations.

この説せつ明めいは分わかりにくい。
This explanation is hard to understand.
彼かれの態たい度どは分わかりにくい。
His attitude is difficult to figure out.

Usage patterns

分わかりにくい説せつ明めいa confusing/hard-to-follow explanation
この教きょう科か書しょは分わかりにくい説せつ明めいが多おおくて困こまる。
This textbook has too many confusing explanations, which is frustrating.
〈場ば所しょ〉への道みちが分わかりにくいthe way/directions to a place are confusing
この駅えきまでの道みちが分わかりにくくて迷まよってしまった。
The way to this station was so confusing that I got lost.
〈事こと〉が分わかりにくくなるfor something to become hard to understand
専せん門もん用よう語ごが多おおいと話はなしが分わかりにくくなる。
When there's a lot of technical jargon, the talk becomes hard to follow.
分わかりにくい文ぶん章しょうhard-to-understand writing/prose
彼かれのレポートは分わかりにくい文ぶん章しょうで書かかれている。
His report is written in hard-to-understand prose.

Kanji

分part, minute of time, segment
難difficult, impossible, trouble
判judgement, judgment, signature
解unravel, notes, key
悪bad, vice, rascal

Related words

分わかりづらい
分かりづらい and 分かりにくい both mean 'hard to understand', but づらい often implies difficulty caused by external conditions (e.g. poor sound, bad lighting) while にくい is more neutral/general.
難むずかしいN5
難しい means 'difficult' in a broad sense (tasks, problems, people), while 分かりにくい narrows that to specifically hard to comprehend or follow.
ややこしいN1
ややこしい describes something convoluted or complicated (procedures, stories), while 分かりにくい focuses more narrowly on failure to understand.
不ふ明めい瞭りょう
不明瞭 is a more formal, written word for unclear speech, writing, or images, while 分かりにくい is the everyday, broader term.
曖あい昧まいN3
曖昧 means vague or ambiguous (lacking clear definition), whereas 分かりにくい means hard to understand even if the content itself is not ambiguous.

Opposites

わかりやすい
分かりやすい means easy to understand, the direct opposite of 分かりにくい (hard to understand).

Don't confuse with

読よみにくい
読みにくい means the text is hard to physically read (illegible or hard to decipher), whereas 分かりにくい means the content is hard to understand even if it can be read fine.

Written forms

分わかりにくい
Standard kanji-kana spelling; the most common written form.
分わかり難にくい
Rare kanji form using 難い; not commonly used.
判わかりにくい
Rare variant using 判る; may emphasize 'to judge/understand' nuance.
解わかりにくい
Rare variant using 解る; may emphasize 'to comprehend/solve' nuance.
判わかり難にくい
Very rare combination; essentially unused in modern Japanese.
解わかり難にくい
Very rare combination; essentially unused in modern Japanese.
分わかり悪にくい
Rare alternative using 悪い; not standard.

Etymology

Compound of the verb 分かる (wakaru, 'to understand') in its continuative form 分かり (wakari) + the adjective-forming suffix にくい (nikui, 'difficult to do'). The suffix attaches to the masu-stem of verbs to express difficulty in performing the action.

Meanings

i-adjective

hard to understand; incomprehensible; unintelligible

usually written using kana alone

Describes something that is difficult to grasp, follow, or make sense of; can refer to explanations, instructions, behavior, or situations.

この説せつ明めいは分わかりにくい。
This explanation is hard to understand.
彼かれの態たい度どは分わかりにくい。
His attitude is difficult to figure out.

Usage patterns

分わかりにくい説せつ明めいa confusing/hard-to-follow explanation

この教きょう科か書しょは分わかりにくい説せつ明めいが多おおくて困こまる。

This textbook has too many confusing explanations, which is frustrating.

〈場ば所しょ〉への道みちが分わかりにくいthe way/directions to a place are confusing

この駅えきまでの道みちが分わかりにくくて迷まよってしまった。

The way to this station was so confusing that I got lost.

〈事こと〉が分わかりにくくなるfor something to become hard to understand

専せん門もん用よう語ごが多おおいと話はなしが分わかりにくくなる。

When there's a lot of technical jargon, the talk becomes hard to follow.

分わかりにくい文ぶん章しょうhard-to-understand writing/prose

彼かれのレポートは分わかりにくい文ぶん章しょうで書かかれている。

His report is written in hard-to-understand prose.

Related words

分わかりづらい
分かりづらい and 分かりにくい both mean 'hard to understand', but づらい often implies difficulty caused by external conditions (e.g. poor sound, bad lighting) while にくい is more neutral/general.
難むずかしいN5
難しい means 'difficult' in a broad sense (tasks, problems, people), while 分かりにくい narrows that to specifically hard to comprehend or follow.
ややこしいN1
ややこしい describes something convoluted or complicated (procedures, stories), while 分かりにくい focuses more narrowly on failure to understand.
不ふ明めい瞭りょう
不明瞭 is a more formal, written word for unclear speech, writing, or images, while 分かりにくい is the everyday, broader term.
曖あい昧まいN3
曖昧 means vague or ambiguous (lacking clear definition), whereas 分かりにくい means hard to understand even if the content itself is not ambiguous.

Written forms

分わかりにくい
Standard kanji-kana spelling; the most common written form.
分わかり難にくい
Rare kanji form using 難い; not commonly used.
判わかりにくい
Rare variant using 判る; may emphasize 'to judge/understand' nuance.
解わかりにくい
Rare variant using 解る; may emphasize 'to comprehend/solve' nuance.
判わかり難にくい
Very rare combination; essentially unused in modern Japanese.
解わかり難にくい
Very rare combination; essentially unused in modern Japanese.
分わかり悪にくい
Rare alternative using 悪い; not standard.