生なまぬるい

な

ま

ぬ

る

い

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

生ぬるい · i-adjective

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

Meanings

Describes liquids or air that are unpleasantly neither hot nor cold, often with a negative nuance.

Used for attitudes, efforts, or responses that lack conviction or enthusiasm.

Describes a person, policy, or punishment that is overly gentle or lacking strictness, often with a critical tone.

〈物もの〉が生なまぬるいfor a liquid or the air to be unpleasantly lukewarm
このスープは生なまぬるくて美味おいしくない。
This soup is unpleasantly lukewarm and doesn't taste good.
〈人ひと〉の態たい度どが生なまぬるいfor someone's attitude to be half-hearted or lacking conviction
彼かれの態たい度どは生なまぬるいと上じょう司しに注ちゅう意いされた。
His boss warned him that his attitude was too half-hearted.
処しょ分ぶんが生なまぬるいfor a punishment or disciplinary action to be too lenient
その処しょ分ぶんは生なまぬるいという声こえが多おおかった。
Many voiced that the punishment was too lenient.
〈事こと〉への対たい応おうが生なまぬるいfor the response or handling of a matter to be too weak or half-hearted
会かい社しゃの対たい応おうが生なまぬるいと批ひ判はんが集あつまった。
Criticism mounted that the company's response was too half-hearted.

ぬるいN4sense 1
ぬるい is the neutral word for lukewarm temperature, while 生ぬるい adds a disapproving nuance that something should be hotter or colder.
手てぬるい sense 3
手ぬるい specifically criticizes an action, punishment, or policy as too soft, closely overlapping with 生ぬるい's leniency sense but without the temperature meaning.
曖あい昧まいN3sense 2
曖昧 means vague or ambiguous in general, while 生ぬるい specifically criticizes an attitude or response for lacking conviction or firmness.
甘あまいN5sense 3
甘い describes a person or standard as too lenient or indulgent, similar to 生ぬるい's criticism of insufficient strictness, but 甘い is far more common and everyday.

冷つめたいN5sense 1
冷たい means cold, the opposite end of temperature from 生ぬるい's unpleasantly in-between warmth.
厳きびしいN4sense 3
厳しい means strict or severe, the opposite of the lenient, insufficiently firm quality criticized by 生ぬるい.

ぬるいN4
温い is simply the kanji spelling of ぬるい (lukewarm temperature only), whereas 生ぬるい adds the 生- prefix to convey criticism of half-heartedness or leniency.

生なまぬるいUsage54%
Standard kanji-kana spelling; the most common written form.
なまぬるいUsage26%
生温なまぬるいUsage20%
Alternate kanji spelling using 温; less common but still encountered.

Compound of prefix 生 (nama, 'raw, half-') and ぬるい (nurui, 'lukewarm'), emphasizing an unsatisfactory intermediate state.