じれったい

i-adjective

frustrating; exasperating; irritatingly slow

Conjugation

	Affirmative	Negative
Present	じれったい	じれったくない
Past	じれったかった	じれったくなかった
て form	じれったくて	じれったくなくて
Adverbial	じれったく	—
Conditional ば	じれったければ	じれったくなければ
Conditional たら	じれったかったら	じれったくなかったら

1. frustrating; exasperating; irritatingly slow

The feeling of impatience or frustration when things are not progressing as quickly or smoothly as one would like.

じれったい話(はなし)し方(かた)だな。

What a frustratingly slow way of talking.

返事(へんじ)がなかなか来(こ)なくてじれったい。

It's frustrating that the reply isn't coming.

二人(ふたり)の関係(かんけい)がなかなか進(すす)まないのを見(み)ていてじれったく感(かん)じた。

I felt frustrated watching the two of them not make progress in their relationship.

An i-adjective expressing the feeling of impatience or frustration when something is moving too slowly or someone is being indecisive. Often used when watching someone else take too long to act. Can also be written as 焦(じ)れったい, though the hiragana form is more common.

Common collocations

じれったい思(おも)いをする: to feel frustrated
じれったく感(かん)じる: to feel exasperated
見(み)ていてじれったい: frustrating to watch

Similar words

もどかしい: frustrating — similar meaning but slightly more literary; emphasizes the feeling of being unable to do something about the situation
いらいらする: to get irritated — stronger and more active irritation, not necessarily about slowness
歯(は)がゆい: vexing, frustrating — used when one cannot intervene in a situation

Related Words

Related: もどかしい (frustrating; vexing)

Compare: 歯(は)がゆい (vexing, frustrating)

Related: 焦(じ)らす (to tease)

general

Added 2026.4.7 4:12 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02

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