1.
narrow-minded; small-minded; intolerant; petty
Unable or unwilling to accept views, behaviors, or people different from one's own; lacking generosity of spirit. Describes a person's disposition or an institution's attitude, often in critical or reflective writing. More formal and literary than 心が狭い, which is the everyday equivalent.
狭量な人間。
A narrow-minded person.
Compound of 狭 ('narrow') and 量 ('capacity; measure'), literally 'narrow capacity' — i.e., small capacity of mind. A formal, bookish adjective that conveys a measured, critical judgment of character.
Usage
- Almost always used as a na-adjective before nouns describing people or their attitudes: 狭量な人, 狭量な考え, 狭量な政治家.
- Used as a predicate noun to name the quality itself: それは狭量だ ('that's narrow-mindedness').
- Rare in casual conversation; belongs to essays, editorials, and thoughtful criticism.
Common collocations
- 狭量な人: a narrow-minded person
- 狭量な考え: narrow-minded thinking
- 狭量な態度: a petty attitude
- 狭量な政治家: a small-minded politician
- 狭量さ: narrow-mindedness (the noun form via さ)
Similar words
- 心が狭い: narrow-hearted; petty — the everyday equivalent; less formal.
- 偏狭: parochial; bigoted — stronger, implies prejudice and rigidity, not just pettiness.
- 度量が狭い: small-minded — idiom with 度量 ('tolerance; magnanimity').
- 寛容: tolerant — direct antonym.
- 寛容: tolerant; broad-minded
- 度量が大きい: magnanimous; big-hearted