っぽい

Japanese

Etymology

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

っぽい • (-ppoi) 

  1. -like, -ish, -esque
    子(こ)供(ども)っぽい
    kodomoppoi
    childish
    彼(かの)女(じょ)の目(め)は緑(みどり)っぽい色(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
  • 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:
    • 男(おとこ)っぽい、女(おんな)っぽい、子供(こども)っぽい
      otokoppoi, onnappoi, kodomoppoi
      mannish, womanish, childish
    • 男(おとこ)らしい、女(おんな)らしい、子供(こども)らしい
      otokorashii, onnarashii, kodomorashii
      manly, womanly, childlike

Inflection
Inflection of っぽい
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) っぽかろ ppokaro
Continuative (連用形) っぽく ppoku
Terminal (終止形) っぽい ppoi
Attributive (連体形) っぽい ppoi
Hypothetical (仮定形) っぽけれ ppokere
Imperative (命令形) っぽかれ ppokare
Key constructions
Informal negative っぽくない ppoku nai
Informal past っぽかった ppokatta
Informal negative past っぽくなかった ppoku nakatta
Formal っぽいです ppoi desu
Formal negative っぽくないです ppoku nai desu
Formal past っぽかったです ppokatta desu
Formal negative past っぽくなかったです ppoku nakatta desu
Conjunctive っぽくて ppokute
Conditional っぽければ ppokereba
Provisional っぽかったら ppokattara
Volitional っぽかろう ppokarō
Adverbial っぽく ppoku
Degree っぽさ pposa

Synonyms

See also
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