ひどい Japanese meaning | Kotomora

ひどい

ひ

ど

い

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

ひどい · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	ひどい	ひどくない
Polite	ひどいです	ひどくないですalso ひどくありません
Past polite	ひどかったです	ひどくなかったですalso ひどくありませんでした
Past	ひどかった	ひどくなかった
Te-form	ひどくて	ひどくなくて
Adverbial	ひどく
Conditional	ひどければ	ひどくなければ
Tara conditional	ひどかったら	ひどくなかったら

Meanings

i-adjective

cruel; heartless; harsh

usually written using kana alone

Describes actions, words, or treatment that are cruel, unkind, or harsh toward someone.

Kanji

酷cruel, severe, atrocious
非un-, mistake, negative
道road-way, street, district

Related words· 10

残ざん酷こくN1sense 1
残酷 is a more formal, literary word for cruelty or brutality, while ひどい is the everyday word covering the same idea plus many other negative senses.
激はげしいN3sense 2
激しい focuses on intensity or violence of force (激しい雨), whereas ひどい in this sense adds a negative, 'too much to bear' nuance.
最さい悪あくN3sense 3
最悪 is a stronger, more absolute way of saying 'the worst', while ひどい is the more general, milder word for 'terrible'.
理り不ふ尽じん sense 4
理不尽 stresses that something is illogical or unfair, while ひどい in this sense simply says it goes beyond reasonable limits.

Show 6 more

甚はなはだしいN2
ひどい is the everyday word for something bad or severe, while 甚だしい is a more formal, written word emphasizing that a degree is extreme.
酷こく
ひどい is the common, everyday word for something awful or terrible, while 酷 is a more formal, literary word often used to modify nouns like 仕打ち or in set phrases.
悪わるいN5
ひどい expresses a stronger, more emotional sense of terrible or severe, whereas 悪い is the plain, neutral word for bad.

Opposites

優やさしいN5sense 1
優しい describes kind, gentle behavior, the direct opposite of ひどい meaning cruel or heartless.
素す晴ばらしいN4sense 3
素晴らしい means wonderful or excellent, the opposite evaluation of ひどい meaning terrible or awful.

Don't confuse with

すごいN5sense 3
凄い is usually a positive exclamation ('amazing'), while ひどい is almost always negative, so learners must not swap them even though both can intensify a statement.

Word family

こっぴどい
really terrible; awful; extremely harsh
ひどく
terribly; awfully; extremely; severely
ひどすぎる
egregious; outrageous; too much; over the top

Written forms

ひどいUsage88%
Usually written in kana; the kanji form 酷い is also common but less frequent.
酷ひどいUsage10%
Common kanji spelling, though kana is more frequent overall.
ヒドイUsage1%
search-only kana form
ヒドいUsage<1%

Etymology

Derived from the classical adjective ひどし, meaning 'cruel' or 'severe'. The kanji 酷 carries the meaning of 'cruel' or 'severe', while 非道い is an ateji-like usage emphasizing 'unreasonable' or 'unjust'.

Meanings

Usage patterns