っぽい

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Japanese

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Etymology

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Emphasis of earlier form ぽい (poi), in turn apparently an Edo-period shift from 多い (ōi, many, much, lots of), based on earlier kana spelling おほい.

Suffix

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っぽい (-ppoi

  1. -like, -ish, -esque
    ()(ども)っぽい
    kodomoppoi
    childish
    (かの)(じょ)()(みどり)っぽい(いろ)です
    Kanojo no me wa midorippoi iro desu.
    Her eyes are of a greenish color.
    レトロっぽい
    retoroppoi
    retroesque
    フュージョンっぽい
    fyūjonppoi
    fusionesque

Usage notes

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  • Inflects as an -i adjective (形容詞).
  • Follows nouns, stems of adjectives, and continuative (連用形) forms of verbs.
  • In certain contexts, this っぽい (-ppoi) may have overtones that the quality is inappropriate or unexpected, contrasting with らしい (-rashī) with overtones that the quality is appropriate and expected. Compare the contextual contrast between English suffixes -ish and -ly or -like, where the former is negative and the latter is positive:
    • (おとこ)っぽい(おんな)っぽい子供(こども)っぽい
      otokoppoi, onnappoi, kodomoppoi
      mannish, womanish, childish
    • (おとこ)らしい(おんな)らしい子供(こども)らしい
      otokorashii, onnarashii, kodomorashii
      manly, womanly, childlike

Inflection

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Synonyms

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See also

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