Common word› JLPT N2 › Freq. Frequency Top 20,000 Conjugation 清い · i-adjective
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 清きよ い 清きよ くない Polite 清きよ いです 清きよ くないです also 清きよ くありません Past polite 清きよ かったです 清きよ くなかったです also 清きよ くありませんでした Past 清きよ かった 清きよ くなかった Te-form 清きよ くて 清きよ くなくて Adverbial 清きよ く Conditional 清きよ ければ 清きよ くなければ Tara conditional 清きよ かったら 清きよ くなかったら
Usage patterns 〈 物もの 〉 が 清きよ い for something (water, air, etc.) to be clean and clear
The water from this mountain is very clear and clean.
〈 人ひと 〉 の 心こころ が 清きよ い for someone's heart/mind to be pure
She is a person with a purer heart than anyone else.
清きよ い 関かん 係けい a pure, platonic relationship
The two explained that theirs was strictly a platonic relationship.
清きよ く 〈 動どう 詞し 〉 to do something (live, act, etc.) in a pure or honest way
He resolved to live an honest and upright life.
Expressions 水みず 清きよ ければ 魚うお 棲す まず the morally upright have a hard time making friends; fish will not live in water that is (too) clean Related words 清らか is a na-adjective with a more poetic, literary feel often used for natural beauty or purity, while 清い is the plain i-adjective form used more broadly in everyday speech.
綺麗 is a colloquial na-adjective meaning 'clean' or 'beautiful', whereas 清い stresses a deeper moral or spiritual purity rather than mere tidiness.
純粋 focuses on being unmixed or genuine in feeling or motive, while 清い more often describes a clean, untainted physical or moral state.
潔白 specifically means being free of guilt or wrongdoing (as in a legal or moral sense), while 清い covers a wider range of purity including physical cleanliness.
清い describes moral or physical clarity (clear water, a pure heart) in classical, literary Japanese, whereas ピュア is a casual modern loanword often applied to people's character.
Word family· 11 purify; cleanse; exorcise
clean; clear; pure · pure; innocent; chaste; honest
Kiyomi orange; Kiyomi tangor
purification; cleansing
elegant beauty; dazzling beauty
Show 6 more Show fewer Kiyomoto (type of jōruri narrative performance)
purification ritual
pure heart; heart free of evil
be purified; be cleansed
wiping with a dry cloth after wiping with a wet cloth
The Story of Anchin and Kiyohime; The Hidaka River Legend
Written forms 清きよ い Usage 66%
Standard kanji form; high priority.
きよい Usage 20%
浄きよ い Usage 14%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.
Etymology Derived from classical Japanese adjective 清し (kiyoshi). The kanji 清 carries meanings of purity and clarity. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it is a native Japanese word.
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