煙(けむ)たい

けむたい
i-adjective
smoky; hard to be around
descriptiveemotion
See also: 煙(けむ)い (variant; literal only)
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present煙(けむ)たい煙(けむ)たくない
Past煙(けむ)たかった煙(けむ)たくなかった
て form煙(けむ)たくて煙(けむ)たくなくて
Adverbial煙(けむ)たく—
Conditional ば煙(けむ)たければ煙(けむ)たくなければ
Conditional たら煙(けむ)たかったら煙(けむ)たくなかったら
1. smoky; full of smoke
Describes a place or atmosphere that has an unpleasant amount of smoke.
部屋(へや)が煙(けむ)たい。
The room is smoky.
焚(た)き火(び)の煙(けむり)で目(め)が煙(けむ)たくなった。
The smoke from the bonfire made my eyes sting.
換気(かんき)が悪(わる)い焼(や)き鳥(とり)屋(や)で、店内(てんない)が煙(けむ)たくてたまらなかった。
The yakitori restaurant had bad ventilation, and the smoke inside was unbearable.
2. hard to be around; feeling awkward around someone
Describes the uncomfortable feeling of being around a strict, intimidating, or overly righteous person whom one finds difficult to relax around.
あの先輩(せんぱい)は煙(けむ)たい存在(そんざい)だ。
That senior is someone who's hard to be around.
口(くち)うるさい上司(じょうし)を煙(けむ)たがっている。
They find the nagging boss hard to deal with.
The verb form 煙(けむ)たがる means 'to find someone hard to be around.'
正論(せいろん)ばかり言(い)う人(ひと)は、周(まわ)りから煙(けむ)たがられることがある。
People who always state the obvious right thing sometimes end up being avoided by those around them.

Conjugation: 煙(けむ)たい is an i-adjective. 煙(けむ)たくない (negative), 煙(けむ)たかった (past).

Forms

  • 煙(けむ)たがる: to find someone hard to be around, to avoid someone
  • 煙(けむ)たがられる: to be avoided, to be found intimidating

Usage: The figurative sense (sense 2) is very common. It describes the social discomfort of being around someone who is strict, self-righteous, or intimidating — not because they are mean, but because their presence makes others feel constrained.

Common collocations

  • 煙(けむ)たい存在(そんざい): an intimidating presence
  • 煙(けむ)たがられる: to be avoided/shunned

Related Words

Related: 煙(けむり) (smoke (noun))
general
Added 2026.3.5 19:24 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
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