ハイカラ

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Japanese

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Etymology

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Shortened from ハイカラー (haikarā), from English high collar,[1][2] referring to the high collars of Japanese men imitating the Western fashion of the late 19th century.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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ハイカラ (haikara-na (adnominal ハイカラ (haikara na), adverbial ハイカラ (haikara ni))

  1. (dated) trendy and Western
  2. (dated) fashionable, stylish
  3. (dated) modern, new
  4. (dated) Westernized
  5. of a style characteristic of the Western influence in the Meiji and Taishō periods

Usage notes

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Originally coined as a derisive term for Japanese people who imitated Western trends and fashions, the word then gained positive connotations of stylishness and modernity by those who saw Westernization as the way forward for Japanese society. In modern Japanese the term is somewhat dated and evokes an earlier time when everything Western was still exotic and progressive.

Inflection

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References

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  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ 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