微び妙みょう

び

みょ

う

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

Describes something nuanced, slight, or requiring careful perception; often used for differences, flavors, or expressions.

Used for situations, positions, or decisions that are precarious, finely balanced, or hard to call.

Expresses skepticism or uncertainty about quality, truth, or advisability; often implies something is not clearly good or acceptable.

not great; iffy; meh

Colloquial understatement meaning something is not quite good, a bit off, or hard to endorse; often written in katakana as ビミョー.

微び妙みょうな違ちがいa subtle difference
二ふたつの色いろには微び妙みょうな違ちがいがある。
There's a subtle difference between the two colors.
微び妙みょうな立たち場ばa delicate/precarious position
彼かの女じょは今いま、微び妙みょうな立たち場ばに置おかれている。
She's currently in a delicate position.
〜かどうか微び妙みょうだit's questionable whether ~
彼かれが試し合あいに出でられるかどうか微び妙みょうだ。
It's doubtful whether he'll be able to play in the match.
それ、微び妙みょうthat's kind of iffy/not great (colloquial)
この味あじ、正しょう直じき言いって微び妙みょうだね。
Honestly, this flavor is kind of meh.
微び妙みょうな表ひょう情じょうa subtle/hard-to-read expression
彼かれは微び妙みょうな表ひょう情じょうを浮うかべた。
He wore a hard-to-read expression.
微び妙みょうな問もん題だいa sensitive/tricky issue
それは微び妙みょうな問もん題だいなので慎しん重ちょうに話はなそう。
That's a sensitive issue, so let's talk carefully.

繊せん細さいN1sense 1
繊細 describes physical or emotional delicacy and fragility, while 微妙 describes a fine, hard-to-judge nuance or borderline quality.
曖あい昧まいN3sense 1
曖昧 means vague or unclear in meaning, whereas 微妙 means finely nuanced or hard to judge but not necessarily unclear in wording.
デリケート sense 2
デリケート is a loanword used for sensitive topics, situations, or feelings, close to 微妙 in sense 2 but sounding more modern and casual.
疑うたがわしいN2sense 3
疑わしい directly means suspicious or doubtful, while 微妙 in this sense softens the judgment into something merely uncertain or questionable.

Show 2 more

いまいち sense 4
いまいち is a casual way of saying something falls short, similar to 微妙 in its colloquial sense of being not great.
ニュアンスN1
微妙 is an adjective meaning 'subtle' or 'delicate', often describing something hard to define, while ニュアンス is a noun referring to the subtle shade of meaning itself.

明めい確かくN3sense 3
明確 means clear and definite, the opposite of 微妙's sense of being subtle, ambiguous, or hard to pin down.

微び細さい sense 1
微細 shares the kanji 微 with 微妙 but means physically minute or tiny, not nuanced or uncertain like 微妙.
微み塵じんN1
微塵 (a tiny particle / not at all) and 微妙 (subtle, delicate) share the kanji 微 but have completely unrelated meanings.

微び妙みょうUsage98%
Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
ビミョーUsage2%
- ビミョー
  kana-only spelling
- びみょう
  Katakana spelling often used for the colloquial 'iffy' sense.
ビミョウUsage<1%

Sino-Japanese word from 微 (び, 'minute, subtle') and 妙 (みょう, 'exquisite, strange'). The colloquial 'iffy' sense developed as a modern understatement.