明るい (あかるい, akarui) Japanese meaning: light | Kotomora

明あかるい

あ

か

る

い

Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

明るい · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	明あかるい	明あかるくない
Polite	明あかるいです	明あかるくないですalso 明あかるくありません
Past polite	明あかるかったです	明あかるくなかったですalso 明あかるくありませんでした
Past	明あかるかった	明あかるくなかった
Te-form	明あかるくて	明あかるくなくて
Adverbial	明あかるく
Conditional	明あかるければ	明あかるくなければ
Tara conditional	明あかるかったら	明あかるくなかったら

Meanings

light; bright; well-lit

Describes physical brightness of a place, room, or light source.

詳くわしいN4sense 5
詳しい stresses detailed, in-depth knowledge of a topic, while 明るい (in the sense of ...に明るい) implies broad, comfortable familiarity.
陽よう気きN3sense 3
陽気 describes a lively, upbeat mood or personality, similar to 明るい but often used as a noun/na-adjective for temperament rather than a general bright quality.
公こう正せいN2sense 6
公正 is a formal term for fairness and impartiality in processes like elections, whereas 明るい in this sense keeps a more everyday, descriptive feel.
明めい朗ろうN1
明るい is the everyday i-adjective for physical brightness or a cheerful vibe, while 明朗 is a more formal na-adjective used to describe an openly cheerful character or clear, honest dealings.

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朗ほがらかN3
明るい is broader and covers physical brightness as well as cheerfulness, while 朗らか focuses specifically on an open, cheerful quality of a person, mood, or clear sky.
さやか
明るい is the common everyday word for 'bright', while さやか is a literary term describing a refreshing clarity of light or sound.
眩まぶしいN3
明るい means bright or cheerful in a neutral, everyday sense, while 眩しい specifically implies light so strong it is painful or impressive to look at.

暗くらいN5
暗い is the opposite of 明るい for physical darkness, a gloomy personality, or a pessimistic outlook.
真まっ暗くらN2
明るい means 'bright' or 'hopeful', the direct opposite of 真っ暗 in both its literal (light) and figurative (outlook) senses.
湿しめっぽいN1
明るい means bright or cheerful, the emotional opposite of the gloomy, heavy feeling described by 湿っぽい.

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明あきらかN3
明るい shares the kanji 明 and means physically bright or cheerful, while 明らか (in its rare literary sense of brightness aside) mainly means abstractly clear or obvious.

明あかるいUsage98%
Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
あかるいUsage2%
明あかるいUsage<1%
search-only kanji form
Search-only kanji form; not used in modern writing.

The modern adjective continues classical 明るし, built on the stem 明かる-, “bright; clear.” 明 is a later semantic spelling.