理 屈(りくつ)っぽい

りくつっぽい

i-adjective

argumentative; pedantic; overly logical

Conjugation

	Affirmative	Negative
Present	理屈(りくつ)っぽい	理屈(りくつ)っぽくない
Past	理屈(りくつ)っぽかった	理屈(りくつ)っぽくなかった
て form	理屈(りくつ)っぽくて	理屈(りくつ)っぽくなくて
Adverbial	理屈(りくつ)っぽく	—
Conditional ば	理屈(りくつ)っぽければ	理屈(りくつ)っぽくなければ
Conditional たら	理屈(りくつ)っぽかったら	理屈(りくつ)っぽくなかったら

1. argumentative; pedantic; overly logical; nitpicking

Describes a person who tends to argue using logic and reasoning in an excessive or annoying way. Carries a negative connotation — implying the person is difficult to deal with because they always insist on logical explanations.

彼(かれ)は理屈(りくつ)っぽいから話(はなし)しにくい。

He's so argumentative that he's hard to talk to.

あまり理屈(りくつ)っぽいことを言(い)わないで。

Don't be so pedantic about it.

理屈(りくつ)っぽい性格(せいかく)のせいで、友達(ともだち)が少(すく)ないと自分(じぶん)でも思(おも)う。

I think my argumentative personality is why I don't have many friends.

Forms

Uses the ～っぽい suffix meaning "tending toward" or "-ish": 怒(おこ)りっぽい (short-tempered), 忘(わす)れっぽい (forgetful), 飽(あ)きっぽい (easily bored). The suffix generally carries a mildly negative nuance.

Common collocations

理屈(りくつ)っぽい人(ひと) (a pedantic person)
理屈(りくつ)っぽい性格(せいかく) (an argumentative personality)
理屈(りくつ)っぽいことを言(い)う (to say pedantic things)

Similar words

屁理屈(へりくつ)を言(い)う: to make specious arguments — more negative, implies bad-faith reasoning
くどい: long-winded — focuses on repetitive explanation rather than logic
論理的(ろんりてき): logical — neutral/positive, unlike 理屈(りくつ)っぽい which is negative

Related Words

Compare: くどい (long-winded)

Compare: 論理的(ろんりてき) (logical)

general

Added 2026.3.22 18:52 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

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