美(び)

び
noun
beauty; aesthetic quality
1. beauty; aesthetic quality
Abstract beauty, especially as an aesthetic ideal or quality to be appreciated in art, nature, or design. Used as a one-character noun in formal and literary writing, and as a productive suffix in many compounds.
美(び)を追求(ついきゅう)する。
To pursue beauty.
自然(しぜん)の美(び)に感動(かんどう)した。
I was moved by the beauty of nature.
日本(にほん)庭園(ていえん)には季節(きせつ)ごとに違(ちが)う美(び)がある。
A Japanese garden has a different kind of beauty in each season.

As a standalone noun, 美(び) is formal and abstract — closer to English "beauty" as a concept than to "a beautiful thing." In everyday speech, 美(うつく)しさ is more common for "beauty" of a specific object or scene.

COMMON COMPOUNDS:

  • 美(び)術(じゅつ): art (fine art)
  • 美人(びじん): a beautiful woman
  • 美容(びよう): cosmetic care; beauty (industry)
  • 美味(びみ)しい: delicious (the more common form is おいしい)
  • 美意識(びいしき): aesthetic sense

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 美(うつく)しさ: beauty (of something specific) — concrete, everyday
  • 美(うつく)しい: beautiful (adjective)
general
Added 2026.6.7 11:04
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