珍しい
めずらしい
i-adjective
unusual; rare
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 珍しい | 珍しくない |
| Past | 珍しかった | 珍しくなかった |
| て form | 珍しくて | 珍しくなくて |
| Adverbial | 珍しく | — |
| Conditional ば | 珍しければ | 珍しくなければ |
| Conditional たら | 珍しかったら | 珍しくなかったら |
1.
rare, uncommon
Describes something that is not often seen or encountered.
2.
unusual, surprising
Describes an unexpected occurrence, often used when someone acts out of character.
3.
novel, curious
Describes something new and interesting that attracts attention.
珍しい is an i-adjective meaning 'rare,' 'unusual,' or 'novel.' The three senses shade into one another: sense 1 is about low frequency in the world, sense 2 about an event departing from what is expected of a particular person or situation, and sense 3 about something being new and eye-catching to the speaker.
Forms
- Adverbial 珍しく: modifies the whole event, not a noun — 'unusually, [it happened that]...' It is the normal way to say that someone acted out of character, as in 珍しく早く起きた 'unusually, I got up early.'
- 珍しそうに: 'as if [it were] something novel' — describes the looker, not the thing looked at (sense 3).
- Noun form 珍しさ: 'rarity, novelty.'
Usage pattern: often a predicate expressing surprise — 〜するなんて珍しい, 'It's unusual for [someone] to ~.' The のは珍しい version (ex11) is the neutral equivalent; the なんて version adds a note of astonishment.
Similar and contrasting words:
- 貴重: also 'rare,' but it foregrounds value — a 貴重な体験 is one worth having, a 珍しい体験 merely an uncommon one.
- 普通 is the everyday opposite: what is 普通 is the norm that 珍しい departs from.
Note: unlike English 'rare,' 珍しい is never used for meat doneness. For a steak, use レア.
Related Words
Antonym:
普通 (ordinary)
Related:
貴重 (rare and valuable)
Compare:
稀少 (rare)
Compare:
得難い (hard to come by)
Compare:
変わった (unusual)
Compare:
目新しい (novel)
Compare:
なかなかない (rare)