みたい

suffix, na-adjective

like, similar to, -ish

informalspokengrammatical

1. like, similar to, resembling

Attaches to nouns, verbs (plain form), and adjectives to express resemblance or likeness. More casual than よう.

It's like a child. / How childish.

That's a dream-like story, isn't it.

Those two get along like siblings.

2. it seems, it looks like, apparently

Expresses conjecture or inference based on what the speaker observes or perceives. Similar to ようだ but more colloquial.

It looks like it's going to rain.

It seems he's already gone home.

The trains seemed to be delayed, so the station was crowded.

みたい attaches directly to nouns, plain-form verbs, and adjectives:

As a modifier, みたい takes な before nouns and に before verbs:

COMPARISON WITH よう:
みたい is the colloquial equivalent of ようだ. よう is preferred in formal writing. In casual conversation, みたい is far more natural.

Related Words

general

Added 2026.2.10 9:31 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

10500/10755_mitai