dainty; delicate; slender; slim and elegant
Describes a person's build or limbs as slender and graceful, often with a positive or aesthetic nuance.
彼女は華奢な体つきをしている。
She has a slender, delicate figure.
Used for objects, furniture, or structures that look easily breakable or lack sturdiness. Can also describe a person's health as frail.
華奢な指に指輪がよく似合う。
The ring looks great on her slender fingers.
This desk is so flimsy it looks like it would break if you put something heavy on it.
祖母は最近華奢になって、歩くのも大変そうだ。
My grandmother has become frail lately and seems to have trouble even walking.
華奢 focuses on a slender, delicate physical build, whereas か弱い emphasizes overall fragility and evokes pity or a desire to protect.
華奢 describes a delicately built, fragile-looking frame, while ほっそり focuses more narrowly on slenderness of shape.
華奢 describes a slender, fragile-looking build or object, while 繊細 more broadly covers fineness, delicacy, or subtlety in both physical things and feelings.
きゃしゃ describes a slender, delicate build, the opposite of the thick, sturdy build がっしり describes.
華奢 describes a delicate, slender build that can seem fragile, whereas しなやか emphasizes resilient flexibility and grace rather than delicacy.
Written identically, 華奢 read きゃしゃ means slender or delicate (of a body or build), while 華奢 read かしゃ means lavish or showy.
華奢 shares the kanji 華 with 華美 but means slender or delicate, not showy or splendid.
Standard kanji spelling.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing.
Rare variant; 花車 is more commonly read はなぐるま (flower cart).
Rarely used kanji form.
From the Sino-Japanese compound 華奢, formerly read かしゃ and meaning “splendid” or “luxurious.” The reading shifted to きゃしゃ, and the word developed its modern senses of delicacy, slenderness, and fragility.