適てき当とう

て

き

と

う

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

1

na-adjective, noun

suitable; appropriate; adequate

Only with reading てきとう

Describes something that fits the situation or meets requirements. Can be used for people, actions, or things. Reading is てきとう.

この仕し事ごとに適てき当とうな人ひとを探さがしています。
We are looking for a suitable person for this job.

適てき当とうな量りょうの塩しおを加くわえてください。

Please add an appropriate amount of salt.

2

na-adjective, noun

half-hearted; sloppy; irresponsible

Casual, often negative sense: doing something without proper care, just going through the motions, or being lazy. Frequently written in katakana as テキトー to emphasize this meaning.

彼かれはいつも適てき当とうな返へん事じしかしない。
He always gives only half-hearted replies.
そんなテキトーな仕し事ごとじゃダメだよ。
That kind of sloppy work won't do.

Written forms

適てき当とうUsage97%
Standard kanji spelling for both senses.
テキトーUsage2%
- テキトー
  kana-only spelling
- てきとう
  Katakana spelling strongly associated with the casual negative sense 'half-hearted, sloppy'. Often used in informal writing.
てきとうUsage1%
テキトウUsage<1%

Kanji

適suitable, occasional, rare
当hit, right, appropriate

Similar words

適てき切せつ
適切 means 'appropriate' in a more formal, objective sense, while 適当 can be more subjective and also has the casual negative meaning.
いい加か減げん
いい加減 shares the 'irresponsible, half-hearted' meaning but is stronger and can also mean 'enough already'.

Etymology

From 適 (suitable) + 当 (hit, appropriate). The negative sense developed from the idea of doing only what is 'just enough' or 'barely suitable', leading to 'half-hearted'.