Japanese

Adjective

憎い ‎(-i inflection, hiragana にくい, romaji nikui)

1. hateful, detestable, abominable
   • Ise Monogatari (The Tales of Ise), late 800s to early 900s:

     されどにくゝはたあらざりけり。

     Saredo nikuku hata arazarikeri.

     But no one thought him dislikeable.

     → Note that the negative connotations have strengthened over time. The older meaning was milder, closer to dislikeable than the modern hateful.

Derived terms

Antonyms

• 好 (この)ましい ‎(konomashii): desirable, favorable, welcome

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3