疎(うと)い

うとい
i-adjective
unfamiliar with
cognitiondescriptive
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present疎(うと)い疎(うと)くない
Past疎(うと)かった疎(うと)くなかった
て form疎(うと)くて疎(うと)くなくて
Adverbial疎(うと)く—
Conditional ば疎(うと)ければ疎(うと)くなければ
Conditional たら疎(うと)かったら疎(うと)くなかったら
1. unfamiliar with
lacking knowledge or experience in a particular area; not well-versed in
パソコンに疎(うと)い。
I'm not familiar with computers.
I'm not well-versed in politics, so I don't know much about it.
I'm not up to date on the latest trends.
2. estranged
distant or estranged in a relationship; not close
I've become distant from him lately.
I'm not close with my relatives.
After leaving my hometown, I became estranged from my local friends.

USAGE (sense 1, unfamiliar):

  • Used with に to indicate the subject one lacks knowledge about
  • Pattern: ~に疎(うと)い (unfamiliar with ~)
  • Common for technology, current events, trends, specialized topics

USAGE (sense 2, estranged):

  • Describes relationships that have grown distant
  • Pattern: ~と疎(うと)い / ~と疎(うと)くなる

Common collocations

Similar words