真面目(まじめ)くさい

まじめくさい
i-adjective
overly serious; excessively earnest; stiff
informalpersonality
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present真面目(まじめ)くさい真面目(まじめ)くさくない
Past真面目(まじめ)くさかった真面目(まじめ)くさくなかった
て form真面目(まじめ)くさくて真面目(まじめ)くさくなくて
Adverbial真面目(まじめ)くさく—
Conditional ば真面目(まじめ)くさければ真面目(まじめ)くさくなければ
Conditional たら真面目(まじめ)くさかったら真面目(まじめ)くさくなかったら
1. overly serious; excessively earnest; stiff
Describes someone or something that appears too serious to the point of being stiff, boring, or annoying. Carries a critical or mocking nuance, suggesting the seriousness is excessive or pretentious.
真面目(まじめ)くさい顔(かお)をしている。
He has an overly serious look on his face.
そんな真面目(まじめ)くさい話(はなし)はやめよう。
Let's stop with such a stiff conversation.
彼(かれ)はいつも真面目(まじめ)くさい態度(たいど)で、冗談(じょうだん)が通(つう)じない。
He always has such a stiff attitude that jokes don't get through to him.

Composed of 真面目(まじめ) (serious, earnest) and the suffix くさい (smelling of; having an unpleasant quality of). The くさい suffix adds a pejorative nuance, turning the positive quality of being serious into something excessive and off-putting. Note that 真面目(まじめ) itself is generally positive, while 真面目(まじめ)くさい is always negative or teasing.

Common collocations

Similar words

  • 堅(かた)い: stiff, rigid — describes a formal or inflexible person; less pejorative
  • 真面目(まじめ): serious, earnest — neutral to positive in tone
  • 気取(きど)った: affected, pretentious — putting on airs more broadly, not just about seriousness

Related Words

Compare: 堅(かた)い (stiff, rigid)
Related: 真面目(まじめ) (serious, earnest)
general
Added 2026.4.9 4:25 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
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