映(ば)える

ばえる
verb (ichidan)
to look good (on camera); to be photogenic
自動詞 intransitiveinformalcolloquialappearancedescriptive
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present映(ば)える映(ば)えない
Present polite映(ば)えます映(ば)えません
Past映(ば)えた映(ば)えなかった
Past polite映(ば)えました映(ば)えませんでした
て form映(ば)えて映(ば)えなくて
ている present映(ば)えている映(ば)えていない
ている polite映(ば)えています映(ば)えていません
ている past映(ば)えていた映(ば)えていなかった
ている past polite映(ば)えていました映(ば)えていませんでした
Conditional ば映(ば)えれば映(ば)えなければ
Conditional たら映(ば)えたら映(ば)えなかったら
Volitional映(ば)えよう—
Volitional polite映(ば)えましょう—
Potential映(ば)えられる映(ば)えられない
Passive映(ば)えられる映(ば)えられない
Causative映(ば)えさせる映(ば)えさせない
Imperative映(ば)えろ映(ば)えるな
1. to look good (on camera); to be photogenic
Describes something that looks attractive in photos or videos. A modern colloquial term derived from 映(は)える (はえる, to shine/stand out).
この料理(りょうり)、すごく映(ば)えるね。
This dish looks really good in photos.
映(ば)える写真(しゃしん)を撮(と)りたい。
I want to take a photogenic picture.
このカフェは映(ば)えスポットとして有名(ゆうめい)だ。
This cafe is famous as a photogenic spot.
映(ば)えスポット = Instagrammable spot
インスタ映(ば)えを狙(ねら)って盛(も)り付(つ)けを工夫(くふう)した。
I arranged the presentation carefully aiming for an Instagram-worthy look.
色(いろ)が鮮(あざ)やかで映(ば)えるから、みんなが写真(しゃしん)を撮(と)りたがる場所(ばしょ)だ。
The colors are so vivid and photogenic that everyone wants to take pictures there.

映(ば)える (ばえる) is a modern colloquial term that became popular with social media culture, particularly Instagram. It's derived from the traditional verb 映(は)える (はえる, to shine/stand out).

Common expressions

Common patterns

  • The thing that photographs well is the subject, marked with が or は; there is no object.
  • The masu-stem noun 映(ば)え is used at least as often as the verb, almost always as the second half of a compound: インスタ映(ば)え, 写真(しゃしん)映(ば)え. That compound position is where the voiced ば- reading comes from — it is rendaku on 映(は)える — and the standalone verb 映(ば)える is a back-formation from it.
  • It says nothing about how something looks in person, only how it comes out in a photo or video.

Usage

This reading ばえる is informal and belongs to social-media speech; it would be out of place in formal writing. The standard reading 映(は)える (はえる) means "to shine" or "to stand out attractively" in a more general sense and is neutral in register.

Related Words

Related: 映(は)える (to shine, to stand out (standard reading))
Related: インスタ (Instagram)
Compare: SNS映(ば)え (Instagram-worthy)
Related: 写真映(しゃしんば)え (photogenic quality)
core
Added 2026.1.16 14:48 · Revised 2026.10.12 16:52
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