うまい

Japanese

Alternative spellings
上手い 巧い 美味い 旨い 甘い 味い (rare) 美い (rare) 甘美い (rare)

Etymology

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.

The ultimate derivation remains unclear. The term occasionally appears in texts from the Heian period (794–1185 CE) with the phonetic spelling mumashi (in the classical terminal form), suggesting a possible pronunciation of */mmasi/ with an emphasized initial /mm/ sound, similar to the reconstructed readings for 馬 (*mma, “horse”) and 梅 (*mme, “plum”). The resulting reconstructed adjective stem of *mma- could indicate a derivation from onomatopoeia; compare English mmm as an expression of approval for something tasty.

Alternatively, umai is listed in some sources as perhaps deriving from verb 熟む (umu, “to ripen, to become ripe”). There is a derived compound term where the meaning is clearly from the adjective, and the spelling uses the 熟 kanji from the verb. However, the verb does not appear in historical sources with an emphatic initial /mm/, and it seems to be cognate with 膿む (umu, “to fester, to become pussy, to produce pus”, intransitive), possibly also with 生む, 産む (umu, “to bear, to give birth to; to produce”, transitive).

Reconstructed by Samuel Martin as Proto-Japonic *ma-.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) うま​い [ùmáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝma̠i]

• Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of "うまい"

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形)	うまく	う​まく うま​く	[úꜜmàkù] [ùmáꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形)	うまい	うま​い	[ùmáꜜì]
Attributive (連体形)	うまい	うま​い	[ùmáꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative	うまくない	う​まくない うま​くない	[úꜜmàkùnàì] [ùmáꜜkùnàì]
Informal past	うまかった	う​まかった うま​かった	[úꜜmàkàttà] [ùmáꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past	うまくなかった	う​まくなかった うま​くなかった	[úꜜmàkùnàkàttà] [ùmáꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal	うまいです	うま​いです	[ùmáꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive	うまくて	う​まくて うま​くて	[úꜜmàkùtè] [ùmáꜜkùtè]
Conditional	うまければ	う​まければ うま​ければ	[úꜜmàkèrèbà] [ùmáꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

うまい • (umai) -i (adverbial うまく (umaku))

1. 上手い, 巧い: good at something, skillful

   Synonym: 上手 (jōzu)

   君(きみ)の日(に)本(ほん)語(ご)がうまいな。

   Kimi no Nihongo ga umai na.

   Your Japanese is good.

   彼(かれ)はテニスがうまい。

   Kare wa tenisu ga umai.

   He's good at tennis.

2. 美味い, 旨い, 甘い, 甘美い: delicious, tasty

   Synonym: 美味しい (oishii)

   飯(めし)がうまい。

   Meshi ga umai.

   The meal is delicious.

3. 旨い: favorable, preferable, good

   Synonyms: 好ましい (konomashii), 良い (ii)

   うまいタイミングで訪(ほう)問(もん)する

   umai taimingu de hōmon suru

   to visit at a good time

4. 旨い: profitable

   株(かぶ)式(しき)仲(なか)買(がい)人(にん)とはうまい仕(し)事(ごと)ですよ。

   Kabushikinakagainin to wa umai shigoto desu yo.

   Being a stockbroker is profitable work.

5. (uncommon) 旨い: thoughtless, foolish, lackadaisical, slipshod, short-sighted

   Synonyms: (more common) 甘い (amai), 愚か (oroka), 浅はか (asahaka)

Usage notes

This term is more common in masculine speech, and may have more casual connotations. The common gender-neutral and polite term for the skillful sense is 上手 (jōzu), and for the delicious sense, 美味しい (oishii).

Inflection

Inflection of うまい

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	うまかろ	umakaro
Continuative (連用形)	うまく	umaku
Terminal (終止形)	うまい	umai
Attributive (連体形)	うまい	umai
Hypothetical (仮定形)	うまけれ	umakere
Imperative (命令形)	うまかれ	umakare
Key constructions
Informal negative	うまくない	umaku nai
Informal past	うまかった	umakatta
Informal negative past	うまくなかった	umaku nakatta
Formal	うまいです	umai desu
Formal negative	うまくないです	umaku nai desu
Formal past	うまかったです	umakatta desu
Formal negative past	うまくなかったです	umaku nakatta desu
Conjunctive	うまくて	umakute
Conditional	うまければ	umakereba
Provisional	うまかったら	umakattara
Volitional	うまかろう	umakarō
Adverbial	うまく	umaku
Degree	うまさ	umasa

Derived terms

Derived terms

• うまい (umai) (熟寝, 熟睡, 味寝): a deep sleep, a refreshing sleep
• うまいい (umaii) (味飯): tasty rice
• うまうま (umauma) (旨旨): (baby talk) tasty, delicious; milk; the mother's breast
• うまき (umaki) (味酒): delicious saké
• うまくさい (umakusai) (旨臭い): smelling delicious; seeming favorable
• うまくち (umakuchi) (甘口): sweet flavor (as of a wine or sauce, in contrast to dry or sour); convincing words, flattery
• うまさ (umasa) (旨さ): deliciousness, tastiness
• うまさけ (umasake), うまざけ (umazake) (旨酒, 味酒, 美酒): delicious saké
• うまに (umani) (甘煮, 旨煮): sweet nimono (a kind of traditional Japanese simmered dish)
• うまひと (umahito) (味人, 貴人): someone from a good family; a noble, an aristocrat
• うまみ (umami) (旨味): taste, flavor; savor, savoriness; attractiveness, charm; profit
• うまら (umara) (旨ら, 甘ら, 美ら): (archaic) delicious, tasty; pleasant, comfortable