っぽい (ppoi)

Meaning & usage

っぽい adds the sense of -ish or having a strong trace of something to a word. It is used to describe appearance, tendency, or feeling, as in 忘れっぽい for forgetful or 黒っぽい for blackish. It attaches directly to nouns like 子供っぽい, to the masu stem of verbs like 忘れ, and to the stem of i adjectives and na adjectives with the stem form. As an i adjective itself, it conjugates as っぽくない or っぽかった, and it often sounds casual and can feel critical when used about people.

Example sentences 3

1. 最近さいきん、忘わすれっぽいな。

   I've been forgetful lately.

2. 彼はその会議で黒っぽいスーツを着ていた。

   He was dressed in a dark suit at the meeting.

3. 大人っぽくなりたい。

   I want to become more adult-like.