めんどくさい (mendokusai) Japanese meaning: troublesome | Kotomora

めんどくさい

also: めんどうくさい

め

ん

ど

く

さ

い

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

めんどくさい · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	めんどくさい	めんどくさくない
Polite	めんどくさいです	めんどくさくないですalso めんどくさくありません
Past polite	めんどくさかったです	めんどくさくなかったですalso めんどくさくありませんでした
Past	めんどくさかった	めんどくさくなかった
Te-form	めんどくさくて	めんどくさくなくて
Adverbial	めんどくさく
Conditional	めんどくさければ	めんどくさくなければ
Tara conditional	めんどくさかったら	めんどくさくなかったら

Meanings

i-adjective

troublesome; bothersome; a pain

usually written using kana alone

Expresses that something is too much effort or a hassle; often used to complain about tasks one doesn't want to do.

宿しゅく題だいをするのがめんどくさい

Kanji

面mask, face, features
倒overthrow, fall, collapse
臭stinking, ill-smelling, suspicious looking

Related words· 6

面めん倒どうN3
面倒 is a noun/na-adjective meaning 'trouble' or 'bother', while 面倒くさい is its more casual, emotionally charged i-adjective form used to complain about tasks.
だるいN2
だるい describes physical sluggishness or fatigue, whereas 面倒くさい expresses mental unwillingness to bother with something.
煩わずらわしいN2
煩わしい is a more formal, literary word for something troublesome or vexing, while 面倒くさい is casual everyday speech.
億劫おっくうN1
億劫 emphasizes a feeling of reluctance or dread about doing something, while 面倒くさい focuses more broadly on the hassle or effort involved.

Show 2 more

うざい
うざい conveys irritation or annoyance at something or someone, while 面倒くさい specifically conveys that a task is too much trouble to do.
難むずかしいN5
面倒くさい emphasizes the speaker's annoyance at a bothersome task, while 難しい focuses on the task's actual difficulty or complexity.

Opposites

楽らくN4
楽 describes something easy or effortless, the opposite of 面倒くさい, which describes something bothersome and effortful.
簡かん単たんN5
簡単 means simple or easy to do, contrasting with 面倒くさい, which means troublesome and not worth the effort.

Word family

面めん倒どくさがり
person who finds things bothersome; tending to find things bothersome

Written forms

面倒くさい
- めんどくさい
  Kanji spelling, less common but still used.
- めんどうくさい
面倒臭い
- めんどくさい
  Kanji spelling with 臭い, emphasizing the negative nuance.
- めんどうくさい
めんどうくさい
Full-length reading, slightly more formal or emphatic.

Etymology

A colloquial contraction of 面倒 (めんどう, 'trouble') + くさい ('smells of'), literally 'smells of trouble'. The reading めんどくさい is a common shortening of めんどうくさい.

Meanings

Usage patterns