苦手 (にがて, nigate) Japanese meaning: poor at

苦手 (にがて, nigate) Japanese meaning: poor at | Kotomora

Kanji

苦suffering, trial, worry
手hand

Related words· 6

下手へたN5sense 1
下手 bluntly states someone lacks skill at something, while 苦手 softens the same idea and can also mean simple dislike rather than incompetence.
不ふ得とく意いN1sense 1
不得意 is a more formal, written synonym for 苦手 when talking about a weak subject or skill.
嫌きらいN5sense 2
嫌い is a stronger, more direct word for dislike, whereas 苦手 softens the aversion and is often used to be polite.
煙けむたいN1
苦手 means someone or something you find hard to deal with or dislike facing, while 煙たい more specifically points to a stiff, distancing discomfort around a person of higher status or authority.

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嫌いやN5
苦手 often implies something one is bad at or ill at ease with, whereas 嫌 is a plain statement of dislike or unwillingness.
不ふ慣なれN1
苦手 focuses on being poor at or disliking something, whereas 不慣れ simply describes a lack of familiarity that could improve with practice.

Opposites

得とく意いN3sense 1
得意 means good at or skilled in something, the direct opposite of 苦手's 'poor at' sense.
好すきN5sense 2
好き means to like something, contrasting with 苦手's sense of finding something unpleasant or hard to deal with.
堪たん能のうN1
苦手 means being poor at or disliking something, the opposite of 堪能's sense of being highly skilled.

Don't confuse with

苦にがいN4
苦い shares the kanji 苦 with 苦手 but means literally 'bitter' in taste, not 'poor at' or 'disliking'.
大だい嫌きらいN1
苦手 means 'bad at' or 'have trouble dealing with' something, which can overlap with dislike but doesn't imply hatred the way 大嫌い does.

Word family

苦にが手て意い識しき
feeling of being bad at something; inferiority complex about a skill

Written forms

苦にが手てUsage98%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency word.
ニガテUsage1%
にがてUsage1%

Etymology

Originally referred to a difficult opponent or someone hard to deal with, contrasting with 得手. It later developed the senses “weak point,” “poor at,” and “dislike.”

苦にが手て

Meanings

Usage patterns

Expressions