Common word› JLPT N2 › Freq. Frequency Top 10,000 Conjugation 情けない · i-adjective
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 情なさ けない 情なさ けなくない Polite 情なさ けないです 情なさ けなくないです also 情なさ けなくありません Past polite 情なさ けなかったです 情なさ けなくなかったです also 情なさ けなくありませんでした Past 情なさ けなかった 情なさ けなくなかった Te-form 情なさ けなくて 情なさ けなくなくて Adverbial 情なさ けなく Conditional 情なさ けなければ 情なさ けなくなければ Tara conditional 情なさ けなかったら 情なさ けなくなかったら
Usage patterns 〈 自じ 分ぶん 〉 が 情なさ けない to feel disgusted/disappointed with oneself
I'm disgusted with myself for making such a mistake.
情なさ けない 〈 事こと 〉 a pathetic/shameful matter or story
It's pathetic, but I was late again.
情なさ けない 顔かお をする to make/have a pathetic, dejected look on one's face
He had a pathetic look on his face after losing the match.
情なさ けなくて 〈 動どう 詞し 〉 so pathetic/disheartening that... (leads to some reaction)
I was so disgusted with my own weakness that I cried.
Kanji 情 feelings, emotion, passion 無 nothingness, none, ain't Related words· 7 哀れ centers on pity or compassion for someone's misfortune, while 情けない often adds a tone of contempt or self-directed disappointment.
恥ずかしい describes social embarrassment or shame in front of others, whereas 情けない expresses inner disappointment or contempt at how pitiful something is.
惨め describes a wretched, miserable state or condition, while 情けない focuses more on the emotional reaction of disappointment or shame toward that state.
みっともない stresses that something looks unseemly or disgraceful to others, while 情けない emphasizes the speaker's own feeling of pity or disappointment.
Show 3 more Show fewer 情けない describes a person or situation as pitiful or shameful, close to the 'hopeless, beyond help' sense of しょうもない but with a tone of disappointment rather than dismissal.
情けない expresses disappointment tinged with shame, often about oneself or someone's weakness, whereas 嘆かわしい judges a situation or society as morally regrettable.
情けない conveys disappointment or pathetic weakness, while 浅ましい carries a harsher tone of moral contempt for base or shameful behavior.
Don't confuse with 情け深い means kind-hearted or compassionate, a positive trait, while 情けない (sharing the kanji 情け ) instead means pitiful or shameful.
情けない sounds similar to 素っ気ない but means pathetic or shameful, unrelated to the coldness described by 素っ気ない .
Written forms 情なさ けない Usage 86%
Standard kanji-kana mixed spelling; the most common written form.
なさけない Usage 7%
Kana spelling is sometimes used for emphasis or in casual writing.
情なさけ ない Usage 7%
情なさ け 無な い
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; 情けない is overwhelmingly preferred.
Etymology Derived from 情け (なさけ , 'sympathy' or 'pity') + ない (negative adjective ending), literally meaning 'without pity' or 'unpitying'. The modern sense shifted to describe something so pitiful that it evokes a feeling of contempt or disappointment.
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