Have you ever wondered what the word subarashii [素晴らしい] really means in Japanese? In this article, we will conduct a complete analysis of this word and understand its meanings, memes, etymology, history, phrases, synonyms, inflections, uses, and more.
The word subarashii can mean "wonderful; splendid; supreme; great; incredible; excellent; glorious; fantastic; magnificent; irable". Depending on the situation, it can also mean something like impressive, not bad, or cool.
It is an i-adjective [い] that is composed of the kanji [素] which means elementary, principle, bare and uncovered, along with the ideogram [晴] which means clear. What on earth do these ideograms have to do with the word?
Various characters, especially some villains, often use this word at some point when they succeed in their schemes. One of the antagonists of Dragon Ball Super, Goku Black, often uses this word several times.
Table of Contents
Etymology and origin of subarashii
The word subarashii is originally derived from the verb subaru [窄る] which means to shrink or decrease. The word is formed by the combination of shii [しい] which is an adjective suffix. This adjective literally describes "that which makes a person shrink."
The initial meaning of the word was strongly negative (something like extreme and terrible), and this usage continued until the mid-1800s in the Período Edo, since when the meaning changed to a strong positive. Something similar happened in English with the word terrific.
The spelling of the kanji is an example of ateji [当て字], a word written with certain ideograms, but which currently has absolutely no relation to the meaning of the word or to the original word [窄る].
Synonyms and related
Awesome [すごい] also means something like amazing, great, wonderful, magnificent. The word amazing it is mostly used to tell your friend or people close to you and also used to be used with exclamation. Already wonderful it is more formal and complete.
Another similar adjective is suteki [素敵] which means "charming; wonderful; pleasant; great; fantastic; excellent; nice". The word also has an alternative form of writing [素晴しい], still has the [ら], but it's in the reading of the kanji.
We recommend also reading the articles that talk about the word ureshii and tanoshii which mean something fun, cheerful, and happy. Quite common and similar adjectives.
Some words opposite to subarashii are hidoi [ひどい] which means cruel; severe; unfair; kitanai [きたない] which means dirty; filthy; iyashii [いやしい] which means vulgar; coarse; rude; minikui [みにくい] which means ugly; unattractive; indecent.
Inflection and Conjugation
The adverb of the adjective subarashii is subarashiku [素晴らしく] which means something like wonderfully; splendidly; magnificently. Below we will leave the possible inflections of the word subarashii for you to examine:
| Inflection | Japanese | Romaji |
| Imperfect (未然形) | It seems the input is not in Portuguese but in Japanese. The phrase "素晴らしかろ" translates to "Isn't it wonderful?" in English. If you have something in Portuguese that needs to be translated into English, please provide it! | subarashikaro |
| I continue (連用形) | Wonderful | wonderful |
| Terminal (終止形) | Wonderful | wonderful |
| Attributive (連体形) | Wonderful | wonderful |
| Hypothetical (仮定形) | Wonderful | wonderful |
| Imperative (命令形) | Wonderful! | subarashikare |
| Informal negative | Not amazing. | subarashiku nai |
| Informal past | It was wonderful. | It was wonderful. |
| Past negative informal | Not wonderful. | subarashiku nakatta |
| Formal | It's wonderful. | subarashii desu |
| Formal negative | It's not wonderful. | subarashiku nai desu |
| Formal past | It was wonderful. | subarashikatta desu |
| Past negative formal | It wasn't wonderful. | subarashiku nakatta desu |
| Subjunctive | wonderful and | wonderful |
| Conditional | If it's wonderful | if it's wonderful |
| Temporary | If it was wonderful | if it was wonderful |
| Volitive | It would be wonderful. | wonderful |
| Adverbial | Wonderful | wonderful |
| Gray | wonderfulness | wonderfulness |
Example Sentences of Subarashii
あなたの成績はすばらしいです Anata no seiseki wa subarashīdesu Your grades are amazing
あれは素晴らしい作品ですね Are wa subarashī sakuhindesu ne This is wonderful work
要するに、そのパーティーはすばらしかった。 Yōsuruni, sono pātī wa subarashikatta. In short, the party was great.
本当に素晴らしいですね。 Hontōni subarashīdesu ne. It's really wonderful.
富士山がすばらしい眺めだった。 Fujisan ga subarashī nagamedatta. Mount Fuji had a wonderful view.
彼女は素晴らしい女性だ Kanojo wa subarashī joseida She is a wonderful woman
彼はとてもすばらしいテニス選手です。 Kare wa totemo subarashī tenisu senshudesu. He is a very good tennis player.
すばらしい話をふたつ紹介します Subarashī hanashi o futatsu shōkai shimasu I can tell you two great stories.
