憎たらしい
にくたらしい
adjective
detestable; hateful; irritating
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 憎たらしい | 憎たらしくない |
| Past | 憎たらしかった | 憎たらしくなかった |
| て form | 憎たらしくて | 憎たらしくなくて |
| Adverbial | 憎たらしく | — |
| Conditional ば | 憎たらしければ | 憎たらしくなければ |
| Conditional たら | 憎たらしかったら | 憎たらしくなかったら |
1.
detestable, hateful, obnoxious, infuriating
Describes someone or something that provokes strong feelings of annoyance or hatred. Stronger and more emotional than simply being annoying.
憎たらしい顔をしている。
He has an obnoxious face.
あの子は憎たらしいことばかり言う。
That kid says nothing but obnoxious things.
自分だけ先に帰るなんて、憎たらしいったらありゃしない。
Going home before everyone else — how utterly infuriating.
Derived from the verb 憎む (to hate) with the suffix ～たらしい, which intensifies the negative quality. This suffix pattern is also seen in 図々しい (shameless) and 嫌らしい (unpleasant).
USAGE:
Often used to describe people, their behavior, or their expressions. Can carry a tone of frustrated affection when used about children or someone whose behavior is annoying but not truly hated. The expression 憎たらしいほど (infuriatingly) is sometimes used with positive qualities: 憎たらしいほど美しい (infuriatingly beautiful).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 憎たらしい顔: a hateful expression
- 憎たらしい口をきく: to say obnoxious things
- 憎たらしいほど: infuriatingly (+ positive quality)
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 憎い: hateful — the base adjective; less emotionally charged than 憎たらしい
- 腹立たしい: irritating, infuriating — focuses on the feeling of anger provoked
- 小憎らしい: slightly annoying, cheeky — milder version, often used affectionately about children