めでたい

め

で

た

い

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

めでたい · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	めでたい	めでたくない
Polite	めでたいです	めでたくないですalso めでたくありません
Past polite	めでたかったです	めでたくなかったですalso めでたくありませんでした
Past	めでたかった	めでたくなかった
Te-form	めでたくて	めでたくなくて
Adverbial	めでたく
Conditional	めでたければ	めでたくなければ
Tara conditional	めでたかったら	めでたくなかったら

Meanings

i-adjective

happy; auspicious; joyous

usually written using kana alone

Used for occasions, events, or news that are joyful and worth celebrating. Often appears in set phrases like めでたい席 or めでたい知らせ.

Usage patterns

〈事こと〉はめでたい話はなしだ(something) is joyous/happy news
息子むすこの結けっ婚こんはめでたい話はなしだ。
My son's marriage is joyous news.
〈人ひと〉はめでたい人ひとだ(someone) is a naive/gullible person
彼かれはいつも人ひとを信しんじすぎるめでたい人ひとだ。
He's a naive guy who always trusts people too much.
めでたく〈動どう詞し〉to happily/successfully do something (with a good outcome)
彼かれはめでたく大だい学がくに合ごう格かくした。
He happily passed the university entrance exam.

Expressions

めでたしめでたしand they all lived happily ever after · having a happy ending; ending without incident

Kanji

目eye, class, look
出exit, leave, go out
度degrees, occurrence, time
愛love, affection, favourite
芽bud, sprout, spear

Related words

喜よろこばしいN1sense 1
喜ばしい is a slightly more formal word for something being happy or gratifying, while めでたい specifically marks an occasion as festive or auspicious.
お人ひと好よし sense 2
お人好し is a noun labeling a person as naively good-natured, while めでたい (naive sense) is an adjective describing that same overly trusting quality.
幸しあわせN4sense 1
幸せ describes personal happiness or well-being, whereas めでたい is used for celebratory events, news, or occasions rather than one's inner state.

Opposites

不ふ吉きつN1sense 1
不吉 means ominous or inauspicious, the opposite of めでたい's sense of being joyous and auspicious.
賢かしこいN3sense 2
賢い means clever or wise, the opposite of めでたい's second sense of being naive or gullible.

Politeness

おめでたいN2
おめでたい adds the polite prefix お to めでたい, making it a softer, more formal (or teasingly ironic) way of saying the same thing.

Written forms

めでたいUsage98%
Kana spelling is standard; the word is usually written in kana.
目め出で度たいUsage2%
ateji (phonetic kanji usage)
Ateji spelling; rarely used in modern writing.
メデタイUsage<1%
芽め出で度たい
ateji (phonetic kanji usage)rarely-used kanji form
Rare ateji variant; not commonly encountered.
愛めでたい
Extremely rare kanji form; included for search coverage only.

Etymology

Developed from classical めでいたし, combining the stem of 愛づ ‘admire, cherish’ with 甚し ‘exceeding, great.’ Its earliest sense was ‘worthy of admiration’ or ‘splendid.’