惜(お)しい

おしい

i-adjective

regrettable, close

emotion evaluation

Conjugation

	Affirmative	Negative
Present	惜(お)しい	惜(お)しくない
Past	惜(お)しかった	惜(お)しくなかった
て form	惜(お)しくて	惜(お)しくなくて
Adverbial	惜(お)しく	—
Conditional ば	惜(お)しければ	惜(お)しくなければ
Conditional たら	惜(お)しかったら	惜(お)しくなかったら

1. regrettable, unfortunate, a shame

Used when something valuable is wasted or lost, or when a good opportunity is missed.

時間(じかん)が惜(お)しい。

Time is precious. / I don't want to waste time.

あんな才能(さいのう)を無駄(むだ)にするのは惜(お)しい。

It's a shame to waste such talent.

若(わか)くして亡(な)くなったのは惜(お)しい。

It's regrettable that they passed away so young.

2. close, almost

Used when someone nearly succeeds at something but falls short.

惜(お)しい！もう少(すこ)しだった。

So close! You almost had it.

答(こた)えは惜(お)しかったけど、間違(まちが)いだ。

The answer was close, but wrong.

あと一点(いってん)で優勝(ゆうしょう)だったのに、惜(お)しかった。

We were just one point away from winning - so close.

COMMON PATTERNS (sense 1):
Expresses that something valuable is being wasted or lost, or that a loss is lamentable.

時間(じかん)が惜(お)しい: time is precious (don't waste it)
命(いのち)が惜(お)しい: one's life is dear
捨(す)てるのは惜(お)しい: it would be a waste to throw away

COMMON PATTERNS (sense 2):
Used when someone nearly succeeds but falls short.

惜(お)しい！: So close! (exclamation in sports/games)
惜(お)しくも負(ま)けた: lost by a narrow margin
惜(お)しいところで負(ま)けた: lost with victory within reach

Forms

Adverbial: 惜(お)しくも (regrettably, so close)
Noun form: 惜(お)しさ (the feeling of regret/closeness)

Related Words

Related: 惜(お)しむ (to regret, to be reluctant to part with, to begrudge, to spare)

general

Added 2026.2.5 23:54 · Revised 2026.10.8 4:36

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