非ひ才さい

ひ

さ

い

Meanings

lack of ability; incompetence; incapacity

A formal, somewhat literary noun for lacking talent or ability. Often used in self-deprecating expressions or to describe someone's inadequacy in a specific area.

自じ分ぶんの非ひ才さいを恥はじる。
I am ashamed of my own lack of ability.
彼かれは非ひ才さいゆえにその仕し事ごとを断ことわった。
He declined the job because of his incompetence.

See all 4 example sentences ›

Kanji

非un-, mistake, negative
才genius, years old, cubic shaku
菲thin, inferior

Related words

無む能のう
無能 is a more common and direct word for incompetence or inability, often used in everyday contexts, while 非才 is more literary and self-deprecating.
不ふ才さい
不才 is a near-synonym also meaning lack of talent, but 非才 is slightly more common and may carry a nuance of 'not having the right talent' rather than 'having no talent at all'.

Word family

浅せん学がく非ひ才さい
one's own lack of learning and ability; shallow knowledge and meager talent

Written forms

非ひ才さいUsage83%
Standard kanji spelling using 非 (not) and 才 (talent).
菲ひ才さいUsage17%
Rare variant using 菲 (humble, poor); mostly seen in literary or self-deprecating contexts.

Etymology

Formed from 非 (hi, 'not') and 才 (sai, 'talent, ability'). The variant 菲才 uses 菲 (hi, 'humble, poor') which reinforces the self-deprecating nuance. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word follows a common Sino-Japanese pattern for abstract nouns.