贔屓ひいき

ひ

い

き

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

贔屓する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	贔屓ひいきする	贔屓ひいきしない
Polite	贔屓ひいきします	贔屓ひいきしません
Past polite	贔屓ひいきしました	贔屓ひいきしませんでした
Past	贔屓ひいきした	贔屓ひいきしなかった
Te-form	贔屓ひいきして	贔屓ひいきしないで
Desire	贔屓ひいきしたい	贔屓ひいきしたくない
Potential	贔屓ひいきできる	贔屓ひいきできない
Passive	贔屓ひいきされる	贔屓ひいきされない
Causative	贔屓ひいきさせる	贔屓ひいきさせない
Causative passive	贔屓ひいきさせられる	贔屓ひいきさせられない
Volitional	贔屓ひいきしよう
Polite volitional	贔屓ひいきしましょう
Imperative	贔屓ひいきしろ	贔屓ひいきするな
Conditional	贔屓ひいきすれば	贔屓ひいきしなければ
Tara conditional	贔屓ひいきしたら	贔屓ひいきしなかったら

Meanings

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb

favoritism; partiality; patronage

Refers to showing unfair preference or special treatment toward a particular person, group, or thing. Often used in contexts like business, sports, or personal relationships. Can be used as a noun or with する to mean 'to favor' or 'to show favoritism'.

先せん生せいは特とく定ていの生せい徒とだけをひいきしている。
The teacher is showing favoritism toward a particular student.
彼かれは上じょう司しのひいきで昇しょう進しんした。
He got promoted through his boss's favoritism.

noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

favorite; pet

Used as a no-adjective to describe a person, team, shop, etc. that one particularly favors or supports. Often appears in phrases like ひいきのチーム (one's favorite team) or ひいきの店 (one's go-to shop).

ひいきのチームが優ゆう勝しょうして嬉うれしい。
I'm happy that my favorite team won the championship.
あの店みせは父ちちのひいきの店みせだ。
That shop is my father's favorite.

noun

patron; supporter; backer

Refers to a person who provides support, often financial or influential, to someone or something. Common in contexts like arts, sports, or business, where a patron backs an individual or group.

彼かれは若わか手て芸げい術じゅつ家かのひいきとして知しられている。
He is known as a patron of young artists.
その政せい治じ家かには強きょう力りょくなひいきがついている。
That politician has powerful backers.

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉〉を贔屓ひいきするto show favoritism toward someone
先せん生せいはいつも同おなじ生せい徒とを贔屓ひいきする。
The teacher always favors the same student.
贔屓ひいきの〈物もの〉〉one's favorite (team, shop, etc.)
贔屓ひいきのチームが決けっ勝しょうに進すすんだ。
My favorite team made it to the finals.
〈人ひと〉〉の贔屓ひいきを得えるto gain someone's patronage/backing
彼かれは多おおくの有ゆう力りょく者しゃの贔屓ひいきを得えて事じ業ぎょうを成せい功こうさせた。
He gained the patronage of many influential people and made his business succeed.
〈人ひと〉〉に贔屓ひいきされるto be favored/shown partiality by someone
彼かれは上じょう司しに贔屓ひいきされている。
He is favored by his boss.

Expressions

贔屓ひいきにするfavor; be partial to; patronize
ひいきの引ひき倒たおしfavoring someone so much it backfires; overly partial treatment that harms the recipient

Kanji

贔strength, power
屓exerting strength
負defeat, negative, -

Related words· 7

えこひいき sense 1
依怙贔屓 is a stronger, almost always negative term for unfair bias, while 贔屓 alone can be neutral or even positive, like rooting for a favorite team.
愛あい顧こ sense 3
愛顧 is a formal, business-register word for a customer's continued patronage, while 贔屓 (sense 3) is the everyday word for the same idea of loyal support.
優ゆう遇ぐう sense 1
優遇 describes formal, systemic preferential treatment (e.g. by a company or institution), whereas 贔屓 is personal and emotional favoritism toward someone.
後こう援えんN1sense 3
後援 refers to organizational or financial backing of an event or group, whereas 贔屓 (patron sense) is a more personal relationship of support for an individual or shop.

Show 3 more

偏へん愛あい sense 1
偏愛 emphasizes an emotional, often irrational attachment to one person or thing, while 贔屓 more broadly covers favoritism in support, treatment, or patronage.
肩かたを持もつN1
ひいきする stresses favoritism or unfair partiality toward someone, whereas 肩を持つ specifically refers to backing someone in an argument or conflict.
可愛かわいがるN3
ひいきする directly means to show favoritism, while 可愛がる only takes on that negative nuance when the affection shown is unequal or unfair.

Opposites

冷れい遇ぐう sense 1
冷遇 means cold, neglectful treatment, the opposite of the favorable treatment implied by 贔屓.

Word family

ひいき目め
biased view; favorable eye; seeing through rose-colored glasses
えこひいき
favoritism; partiality; bias
縁者贔屓えんじゃびいき
nepotism; favoritism toward relatives
贔屓贔屓ひいきびいき
each person having their own favorite; everyone having their own bias

Written forms

贔屓ひいきUsage60%
Standard kanji spelling; the characters are complex but this is the most common written form.
ひいきUsage39%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing due to the complexity of the kanji.
ヒイキUsage2%
贔負ひいき
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; learners will almost never encounter this spelling.

Etymology

Borrowed from Chinese 贔屓, originally “strenuous exertion” and later “support; patronage.” The Japanese reading developed from earlier ひき to ひいき.