いい加減

Japanese

Kanji in this term

Grade: 4
げん
Grade: 5
on’yomi
Alternative spellings
好い加減
好加減

Etymology

Attested from the 18th century. Compound of いい (ii, good) + ()(げん) (kagen, amount), with sound shift from earlier よい()(げん) (yoikagen).[1]

Pronunciation

Adjective

いい()(げん) (iikagen) -na (adnominal いい()(げん) (iikagen na), adverbial いい()(げん) (iikagen ni))

  1. sufficient, completely sufficient, enough
    いい()(げん)()()をわかす
    ii kagen ni furo o wakasu
    heat the bathwater enough
  2. irresponsible, groundless, inaccurate, halfhearted
    (かれ)のロシア()いい()(げん)なものだ。
    Kare no Roshiago wa iikagen na mono da.
    His Russian is a joke.
    もういい()(げん)でやめなさい。
    iikagen de yamenasai.
    It's time you stopped./Enough is enough.

Usage notes

The contradictory senses may be distinguished in speech, with the “sufficient” sense pronounced as two words and the “halfhearted” sense as a single compound. In writing, the senses are not distinguished and may be ambiguous.[1]

Inflection

Noun

いい()(げん) (iikagen) 

  1. (just) right
    風呂(ふろ)はちょうどいい()(げん)です。
    Ofuro wa chōdo iikagen desu.
    The bath is just the right temperature.
  2. moderate, appropriate
    いい()(げん)にしなさい。
    Iikagen ni shinasai.
    Start behaving appropriately.

References

  1. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Further reading

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