1.
unnatural; artificial; forced; contrived
Not natural in appearance, behavior, or feeling. Describes something that seems awkward, forced, or inconsistent with what would be expected.
彼の笑顔は不自然だった。
His smile was unnatural.
この写真はポーズが不自然に見える。
The pose in this photo looks unnatural.
翻訳ソフトの日本語は文法的には正しくても、不自然な表現が多い。
The Japanese from translation software often contains unnatural expressions, even if it is grammatically correct.
The negated form of 自然な (natural). Widely used to describe anything that feels off, forced, or not genuine — from body language and facial expressions to language usage and physical phenomena.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 不自然な動き: unnatural movement
- 不自然な表現: unnatural expression (in language)
- 不自然な態度: unnatural attitude/manner
- 不自然な点: suspicious/unnatural point
USAGE:
In language learning contexts, 不自然 is commonly used to describe sentences or expressions that are grammatically correct but sound awkward to native speakers. Also used in detective/crime contexts to describe suspicious circumstances.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 不自然: same word used as a noun or adverb (without な)
- わざとらしい: obviously deliberate — implies someone is faking or putting on an act
- 違和感がある: to feel off — describes the feeling that something is not quite right