うるさい

Japanese

Alternative spellings
煩い五月蝿い (less common)

Alternative forms

(informal, terminal or attributive form) うるせえ (urusee)
(informal, emphatic, terminal or attributive form) うっせえ (ussee)

Etymology

Probably originally a compound of 心 (uru, “heart, mind”, vowel-shifted from regular reading ura, cognate with 裏 (ura, “the behind or inside of something”)) +‎ 狭し (sashi, “tight; narrow”, Classical and Old Japanese, cognate and synonym of modern 狭い (semai)), from the sense that something is so overwhelming that one feels pressured to yield or submit in some way.^[1]

The earliest texts used this word to mean something more like "overwhelmed by how completely thorough something is (in a positive sense), or by how excessive and repetitive something is (in a negative sense)".^[1]^[2] Over time, the term was used less and less in a positive sense, and the focus from the late Heian period gradually became a negative sense of oppression and annoyance from something troublesome, repetitive, or overwhelming.^[1] Usage then shifted further, such that the term described not the speaker's own internal state, but rather the troublesome quality of the cause of the emotional response.

First cited to works from the early 900s.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ɾɯ̟sa̠i]
(Tokyo) うるさい [ùrúsáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])^[3]^[4]^[5]

Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of うるさい

Plain	うるさい	うるさい	`[ùrúsáꜜì]`
Conjunctive	うるさくて	うるさくてうるさくて	`[ùrúsáꜜkùtè]` `[ùrúꜜsàkùtè]`
Continuative	うるさく	うるさくうるさく	`[ùrúsáꜜkù]` `[ùrúꜜsàkù]`
Negative	うるさくない	うるさく・ないうるさく・ない	`[ùrúsáꜜkù náꜜì]` `[ùrúꜜsàkù náꜜì]`
Past	うるさかった	うるさかったうるさかった	`[ùrúsáꜜkàttà]` `[ùrúꜜsàkàttà]`
Negative past	うるさくなかった	うるさく・なかったうるさく・なかった	`[ùrúsáꜜkù náꜜkàttà]` `[ùrúꜜsàkù náꜜkàttà]`
Conditional	うるさければ	うるさければうるさければ	`[ùrúsáꜜkèrèbà]` `[ùrúꜜsàkèrèbà]`
Terminal	うるさい	うるさい	`[ùrúsáꜜì]`
Formal	うるさいです	うるさいです	`[ùrúsáꜜì dèsù]`

Adjective

うるさい • (urusai) -i (adverbial うるさく (urusaku))

[late 900s – Kamakura period] overwhelmingly thorough (often in a positive way); excessive, repetitive (in a negative way)
1. [from early 900s] (by extension from the "thorough" sense) so thoroughly knowledgeable and particular about something as to be annoying to others: picky, nitpicking, fussy
  字(じ)体(たい)にうるさい
  jitai ni urusai
  picky about glyph shape
  
  味(あじ)にうるさい
  aji ni urusai
  picky about flavor
2. [from late 900s] pushy, bossy, overly particular and demanding
  うるさい連(れん)中(ちゅう)だ。
  Urusai renchū da.
  Bossy guys.
[early 1000s – ???] excellent of technique (particularly for a performance)
Synonym: (Classical) うるせし (uruseshi)
[late 1100s – ???] extremely strained, faked, insincere, affected
[from early 1100s] oppressive and annoying in a surrounding and overwhelming way
Synonyms: 煩わしい (wazurawashii, “troublesome, annoying, irksome, nuisance”), 鬱陶しい (uttoushii, “annoying and oppressive, overtones of depressing”), 喧しい (yakamashii, “oppressively loud, noisy”), うざったい (uzattai), うざっこい (uzakkoi), うざい (uzai)
1. noisy, loud
  外(そと)がうるさい。
  Soto ga urusai.
  It is noisy outside.
2. annoying, irritating
[from early 1900s] troublesome, bothersome, irksome (usually in reference to having to do something)
Synonyms: 面倒 (mendō, “trouble, bother, tiresome”), 煩わしい (wazurawashii, “troublesome, annoying, irksome, nuisance”), うざったい (uzattai), うざっこい (uzakkoi), うざい (uzai)
[from early 1600s] dirty, messy, causing a bad feeling
Synonyms: 汚い (kitanai), いや (iya), うざったい (uzattai), うざっこい (uzakkoi), うざい (uzai)

Usage notes

The annoying, irritating and loud, noisy senses are probably the most common in modern usage.

Inflection

Inflection of **うるさい**
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	うるさかろ	urusakaro
Continuative (連用形)	うるさく	urusaku
Terminal (終止形)	うるさい	urusai
Attributive (連体形)	うるさい	urusai
Hypothetical (仮定形)	うるさけれ	urusakere
Imperative (命令形)	うるさかれ	urusakare
Key constructions
Informal negative	うるさくない	urusaku nai
Informal past	うるさかった	urusakatta
Informal negative past	うるさくなかった	urusaku nakatta
Formal	うるさいです	urusai desu
Formal negative	うるさくないです	urusaku nai desu
Formal past	うるさかったです	urusakatta desu
Formal negative past	うるさくなかったです	urusaku nakatta desu
Conjunctive	うるさくて	urusakute
Conditional	うるさければ	urusakereba
Provisional	うるさかったら	urusakattara
Volitional	うるさかろう	urusakarō
Adverbial	うるさく	urusaku
Degree	うるささ	urusasa

Interjection

うるさい • (urusai)

(figuratively) shut up; stop it
うるさい！
Urusai!
You are annoying! / That's annoying! → Shut up! / Stop it!

Descendants

→ Chinese: 無路賽 / 无路赛 (wúlùsài)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 “煩・五月蠅”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 “煩い”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN