使(つか)いにくい

つかいにくい
i-adjective
hard to use; awkward to handle; user-unfriendly
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present使(つか)いにくい使(つか)いにくくない
Past使(つか)いにくかった使(つか)いにくくなかった
て form使(つか)いにくくて使(つか)いにくくなくて
Adverbial使(つか)いにくく
Conditional ば使(つか)いにくければ使(つか)いにくくなければ
Conditional たら使(つか)いにくかったら使(つか)いにくくなかったら
1. hard to use; awkward to handle; inconvenient
Describes a tool, device, software, or space that works but is troublesome or unintuitive in practice. Formed from 使(つか)う plus the suffix 〜にくい (difficult to do).
このハサミは使(つか)いにくい。
These scissors are hard to use.
(あたら)しいアプリは使(つか)いにくくて(こま)っている。
The new app is user-unfriendly and it's giving me trouble.
台所(だいどころ)(せま)くて使(つか)いにくいので、(たな)位置(いち)()えることにした。
The kitchen is cramped and awkward to use, so we decided to move the shelves.

The suffix 〜にくい attaches to a verb stem to mean "hard to do." It describes the object's own inconvenience, not the speaker's lack of skill.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 使(つか)いにくい道具(どうぐ): an awkward tool
  • 使(つか)いにくいソフト: unwieldy software
  • 使(つか)いにくくなる: to become hard to use
  • ちょっと使(つか)いにくい: a bit inconvenient to use

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 使(つか)いやすい: easy to use — the direct opposite
  • 不便(ふべん)な: inconvenient — about a situation or arrangement, not about handling an object
  • (あつか)いにくい: hard to handle — also used of people who are difficult to deal with