いや

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
嫌
厭 (uncommon)
厭や (uncommon)

Possibly onomatopoeia as a general expression of disgust. Compare similar terms in many different languages, such as English yuck, Finnish yök, Arabic يَع‎ (yaʕ), Turkish ıyak, Thai ยี้ (yíi).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Adjective

いや • (iya) -na, adnominal いやな (iya na), adverbial いやに (iya ni)

  1. disagreeable, unpleasant, disgusting, offensive, abhorrent
    嫌(いや)な顔(かお)をする
    iya na kao o suru
    to make weird faces
    嫌(いや)な女(おんな)
    iya na onna
    unpleasant woman → bitch
    嫌(いや)なことを言(い)う
    iya na koto o iu
    to say awful things
    ぞっとするほど嫌(いや)な目(め)に合(あ)った。
    Zotto suru hodo iya na me ni atta.
    They met with a shockingly abhorrent experience.
Usage notes

いや (iya) sounds more masculine than やだ (yada), which has the same meaning but is more feminine.

Inflection
Derived terms

Interjection

いや • (iya) 

  1. yuck, ew
See also

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling
否

Alternative forms

  • (repeated) いやいや (iya iya), いやいやいや (iya iya iya)

Pronunciation

Interjection

いや • (iya) 

  1. no, incorrect
    いや、違(ちが)うだろ。
    Iya, chigau daro.
    No, that's definitely not it.

Alternative forms

  • いやあ (iyā), いやぁ (iyā), いやー (iyā)

Pronunciation

Interjection

いや • (iya) 

  1. Exclamation of surprise in contrast to expectations.
    いやぁ、驚(おどろ)いたな。
    Iyā, odoroita na.
    What a surprise.
  2. Exclamation used when one finds it difficult to onboard.
    いやぁ、そう言(い)われてもなぁ。
    Iyā, sō iwaretemo nā.
    I mean, even if you say so [tell me to, etc.], it's just… [somewhat difficult].

Etymology 4

Alternative spelling
礼

/wiya/ → /iya/.

From Old Japanese. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ija̠]

Noun

いや • (iya) ←ゐや (wiya)?

  1. the act of respecting one; reverence
See also

References

  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
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