要領が悪い
ようりょうがわるい
expression, i-adjective
inefficient; clumsy; bad at getting things done
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 要領が悪い | 要領が悪くない |
| Past | 要領が悪かった | 要領が悪くなかった |
| て form | 要領が悪くて | 要領が悪くなくて |
| Adverbial | 要領が悪く | — |
| Conditional ば | 要領が悪ければ | 要領が悪くなければ |
| Conditional たら | 要領が悪かったら | 要領が悪くなかったら |
1.
inefficient; clumsy; poor at managing tasks
Describes a person who is not good at doing things efficiently — someone who takes longer than necessary, wastes effort, or doesn't know how to take shortcuts. The opposite of youryou ga ii (efficient, savvy).
彼は要領が悪い。
He's not very efficient.
要領が悪くて、いつも残業になる。
I'm so inefficient that I always end up working overtime.
要領が悪いのは分かっているが、丁寧にやりたい性格なんだ。
I know I'm not efficient, but I have a personality that wants to do things carefully.
Composed of 要領 (knack, essential point) + が悪い (bad at). Describes someone who lacks the knack for getting things done smoothly.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 要領が悪い人: an inefficient person
- 要領が悪くて: being inefficient, so...
RELATED EXPRESSION:
- 要領がいい: efficient, savvy — the positive counterpart; describes someone skilled at getting things done with minimal effort. Can also have a slightly negative nuance of being too shrewd or cutting corners.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 不器用: clumsy, unskillful — broader; covers physical clumsiness and social awkwardness as well
- 手際が悪い: poor at handling tasks — focuses on the execution of specific tasks
- 効率が悪い: inefficient — more neutral and objective; often about systems or processes rather than people
USAGE:
Often used self-deprecatingly. While it describes a genuine weakness, it is not as harsh as calling someone incompetent — it implies the person is earnest but lacks the knack for efficiency.