嫌味(いやみ)

いやみ
noun, na-adjective
sarcasm; snide remark; unpleasant manner
communication
1. sarcasm; snide remark; cutting words
Words that indirectly express criticism or displeasure, often through irony or insinuation.
嫌味(いやみ)を言(い)われて傷(きず)ついた。
I was hurt by a snide remark.
それは嫌味(いやみ)で言(い)っているのか？
Are you saying that sarcastically?
上司(じょうし)に嫌味(いやみ)を言(い)われるのはつらい。
It's tough to be on the receiving end of snide remarks from your boss.
2. unpleasantness; disagreeable manner
An attitude or behavior that makes others feel uncomfortable.
嫌味(いやみ)な言(い)い方(かた)をする人(ひと)だ。
They have an unpleasant way of speaking.
Used as na-adjective.
嫌味(いやみ)な態度(たいど)を取(と)らないでください。
Please don't act in such an unpleasant manner.
あの人(ひと)は嫌味(いやみ)なく自慢話(じまんばなし)ができるから、みんなに好(す)かれている。
That person can brag without being unpleasant about it, so everyone likes them.

嫌味(いやみ) covers two related things: a remark that criticises sideways rather than head-on (sense 1), and the disagreeable quality of a person or manner that produces such remarks (sense 2). The sting is in the indirectness — a straight complaint is not 嫌味(いやみ).

Formation: 嫌(いや) 'unpleasant' + 味(あじ) 'flavour, quality' — literally an unpleasant aftertaste.

As a na-adjective it describes the person or the manner, not the words:

Collocations

  • 嫌味(いやみ)を言(い)う: to make a snide remark
  • 嫌味(いやみ)に聞(き)こえる: to come across as sarcastic
  • 嫌味(いやみ)なく: without being unpleasant about it — common praise for someone who boasts or corrects gracefully

Compare 皮肉(ひにく), which is irony proper: it can be witty, impersonal, or even affectionate. 嫌味(いやみ) is always aimed at someone and always unpleasant.

Related Words

Related: 皮肉(ひにく) (irony/sarcasm)
general
Added 2026.1.18 22:35 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:05
07000/07024_iyami