嬉しい (うれしい, ureshii) Japanese meaning: happy | Kotomora

嬉うれしい

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れ

し

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Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 1,000

嬉しい · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	嬉うれしい	嬉うれしくない
Polite	嬉うれしいです	嬉うれしくないですalso 嬉うれしくありません
Past polite	嬉うれしかったです	嬉うれしくなかったですalso 嬉うれしくありませんでした
Past	嬉うれしかった	嬉うれしくなかった
Te-form	嬉うれしくて	嬉うれしくなくて
Adverbial	嬉うれしく
Conditional	嬉うれしければ	嬉うれしくなければ
Tara conditional	嬉うれしかったら	嬉うれしくなかったら

Meanings

i-adjective

happy; glad; pleased

Describes a personal feeling of happiness or gladness about something specific. Often used with ～て (te-form) to express being glad that something happened.

プレゼントをもらって嬉うれしい。

Kanji

嬉glad, pleased, rejoice

Related words· 8

楽たのしいN5sense 1
楽しい describes an ongoing enjoyable experience or activity, while 嬉しい is a momentary feeling of happiness triggered by a specific event.
幸しあわせN4sense 1
幸せ describes a deeper, more lasting state of happiness or good fortune, while 嬉しい is a quick, reactive burst of gladness.
喜よろこばしいN1sense 2
喜ばしい is a more formal, written word for events being gratifying or joyous, while 嬉しい is the everyday word for personal gladness.
喜よろこぶN4
嬉しい is an i-adjective describing the feeling of happiness, while 喜ぶ is a verb describing the act of showing or expressing that joy.

Show 4 more

ハッピーN3
嬉しい is an i-adjective expressing gladness about a specific event, whereas ハッピー describes a general happy state and is used as an adjectival noun.
大おお喜よろこびN1
嬉しい is an adjective describing a happy feeling, while 大喜び is a noun/する-verb describing an outward, intense display of joy.
ありがたいN2
嬉しい simply means 'happy/glad' about something, whereas ありがたい specifically conveys thankfulness for a favor or fortunate circumstance.
愉ゆ快かいN3

Opposites

悲かなしいN4sense 1
悲しい means sad, the direct opposite of the happy feeling expressed by 嬉しい.
悔くやしいN3
嬉しい (happy, glad) is the emotional opposite of 悔しい (frustrated, vexed).

Don't confuse with

喜よろこんで
嬉しい is an adjective describing the feeling of happiness, while 喜んで is an adverb describing willingness to act.

Word family

嬉うれし泣なき
tears of joy; crying from happiness
嬉うれし涙なみだ
happy tears; tears of joy
嬉うれしげ
seeming happy; looking glad
嬉うれしがる
act happy; show gladness; be visibly pleased

Written forms

嬉うれしいUsage58%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
うれしいUsage42%
Kana spelling is common in casual writing and when the kanji is not needed.

Etymology

Derived from classical Japanese adjective うれし (ureshi), which originally meant 'pleasant' or 'lovely'. The kanji 嬉 is a semantic borrowing from Chinese, where it means 'joy' or 'delight'.

嬉うれしい

Meanings

Usage patterns

Expressions