くだらない

i-adjective

worthless, trivial, stupid

Conjugation

	Affirmative	Negative
Present	くだらない	くだらなくない
Past	くだらなかった	くだらなくなかった
て form	くだらなくて	くだらなくなくて
Adverbial	くだらなく	—
Conditional ば	くだらなければ	くだらなくなければ
Conditional たら	くだらなかったら	くだらなくなかったら

1. worthless, trivial, pointless

Describes something that has no value, importance, or meaning. Used to dismiss things as a waste of time.

くだらない話(はなし)だな。

What a pointless story.

くだらないことに時間(じかん)を使(つか)うな。

Don't waste time on trivial things.

こんなくだらない番組(ばんぐみ)見(み)るなよ。

Don't watch such a worthless show.

2. stupid, silly, ridiculous

Describes something as foolish or not worthy of serious consideration.

くだらない冗談(じょうだん)はやめろ。

Cut it out with the stupid jokes.

喧嘩(けんか)の原因(げんいん)がくだらなすぎる。

The reason for the fight is too ridiculous.

くだらないと思(おも)いつつも笑(わら)ってしまった。

I ended up laughing even though I thought it was silly.

くだらない is a common word for dismissing something as worthless or stupid. Despite looking like a negative verb form, it functions as an i-adjective.

Etymology: Derived from 下(くだ)る (to go down), possibly from the Edo-period phrase 「下(くだ)らない酒(さけ)」 (sake that doesn't come down from Kyoto, implying inferior quality).

Casual contractions

くだんない (very casual)

Common collocations

くだらない話(はなし) (pointless talk)
くだらない質問(しつもん) (stupid question)
くだらない理由(りゆう) (trivial reason)

Related Words

Synonym: つまんない (boring (casual))

Synonym: しょうもない (worthless, lame)

Compare: ろくでもない (good-for-nothing)

Compare: 取(と)るに足(た)らない (insignificant)

general

Added 2026.2.1 20:09 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

09000/09416_kudaranai