小難(こむずか)しい

こむずかしい
i-adjective
somewhat difficult, nitpicky, pedantic
descriptive
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present小難(こむずか)しい小難(こむずか)しくない
Past小難(こむずか)しかった小難(こむずか)しくなかった
て form小難(こむずか)しくて小難(こむずか)しくなくて
Adverbial小難(こむずか)しく—
Conditional ば小難(こむずか)しければ小難(こむずか)しくなければ
Conditional たら小難(こむずか)しかったら小難(こむずか)しくなかったら
1. somewhat difficult, overly complicated
Describes something that is unnecessarily complicated or hard to understand, often implying pretentiousness or excessive technicality.
小難(こむずか)しい話(はなし)だな。
That's an overly complicated topic.
小難(こむずか)しい本(ほん)ばかり読(よ)んでいる。
He only reads pretentiously difficult books.
彼(かれ)の論文(ろんぶん)は小難(こむずか)しい言葉(ことば)が多(おお)くて読(よ)みにくい。
His paper is hard to read because it's full of needlessly complicated words.
2. nitpicky, hard to please, fussy
Describes a person who is particular, fastidious, or difficult to deal with. Often used to describe someone with a stern or unapproachable demeanor.
小難(こむずか)しい顔(かお)をしている。
He has a stern expression.
あの先生(せんせい)は小難(こむずか)しい人(ひと)だ。
That teacher is a hard person to please.
小難(こむずか)しいことばかり言(い)わないで、もっと簡単(かんたん)に説明(せつめい)してよ。
Stop being so pedantic and explain it more simply.

Usage

A softer or more colloquial variant of 難(むずか)しい when used to describe something that is not genuinely difficult, but rather unnecessarily complex or fussy. The prefix 小(こ)~ adds a nuance of "somewhat" or "annoyingly."

Common collocations

  • 小難(こむずか)しい話(はなし): overly complicated talk
  • 小難(こむずか)しい顔(かお): stern/difficult expression
  • 小難(こむずか)しいことを言(い)う: to say nitpicky things
  • 小難(こむずか)しい本(ほん): pretentiously difficult book

Related Words

Related: 難(むずか)しい (base form)
general
Added 2026.2.21 15:48 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
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