1.
looks interesting; looks like fun; sounds fun
An appearance-based judgement that something seems interesting or enjoyable, based on what the speaker has seen or heard about it. Formed from 面白い + the evidential suffix そう.
その映画は面白そうだ。
That movie looks interesting.
面白そうな本を見つけた。
I found an interesting-looking book.
新しい仕事の内容を聞いて、とても面白そうだと思った。
After hearing what the new job involves, I thought it sounded really interesting.
Formed by attaching the evidential そう suffix to the stem of the i-adjective 面白い (drop い, add そう). The result conjugates as a na-adjective: 面白そうだ (predicate) / 面白そうな (modifier) / 面白そうに (adverbial).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 面白そうな話: an interesting-sounding story
- 面白そうに聞こえる: to sound interesting
- 面白そうにしている: to look like one is having fun
USAGE NOTE:
Used only when the speaker has not yet experienced the thing directly. After actually trying it, switch to plain 面白い. Saying *面白そうな映画だった about a movie you have already watched sounds odd.