わざとらしい

i-adjective

obvious; affected; put-on; deliberate-looking

Conjugation

	Affirmative	Negative
Present	わざとらしい	わざとらしくない
Past	わざとらしかった	わざとらしくなかった
て form	わざとらしくて	わざとらしくなくて
Adverbial	わざとらしく	—
Conditional ば	わざとらしければ	わざとらしくなければ
Conditional たら	わざとらしかったら	わざとらしくなかったら

1. obviously deliberate; affected; put-on; unnatural

Describing behavior, a reaction, or a manner that looks intentionally staged rather than genuine, so that it comes across as forced or insincere.

わざとらしい笑(わら)い方(かた)だ。

It's a put-on way of laughing.

彼女(かのじょ)のほめ方(かた)はわざとらしくて気(き)になる。

The way she compliments people feels affected, and it bothers me.

わざとらしい咳払(せきばら)いをして、彼(かれ)は話題(わだい)を変(か)えようとした。

With an obviously fake throat-clearing, he tried to change the subject.

Built on わざと (on purpose) plus the suffix ～らしい (seeming, looking like). It carries a critical tone: the action looks staged, exaggerated, or insincere rather than spontaneous.

Common collocations

わざとらしい笑(わら)い: a forced, fake laugh
わざとらしく泣(な)く: to cry in an obviously put-on way
わざとらしい態度(たいど): an affected, insincere manner

Similar words

不自然(ふしぜん)な: unnatural — describes something that simply seems off, without the sense of deliberate pretense
大袈裟(おおげさ)な: exaggerated, overblown — overstated, but not necessarily faked on purpose

Related Words

Compare: 不自然(ふしぜん)な (unnatural)

Compare: 嘘(うそ)っぽい (fishy)

general

Added 2026.7.17 6:18 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02

29500/29894_wazatorashii