Hate
In this lesson, we will go over the plethora of phrases used to describe hatred.
（大）嫌い（な）
The most basic word for “to hate” in Japanese is described with the adjectival noun 嫌い（な）, which implies that you hold a bad impression of something, and the disdain that you hold is a reaction to that bad impression. You cannot, however, use 嫌いだ to reject a request.
While 嫌い（な） does derive from the verb 嫌う meaning “to detest,” which is still in use and will be seen next, 嫌い（な） involves ergative grammar in which the object of the sentence is marked by が.
1. エッセイを書くのが嫌いだよ。
I hate writing essays.
2. 毎日走らなきゃいけないけど、ホントに嫌いだよ。とっても辛いんだ。いつも汗かいてて、体中が濡れちゃうし、臭くなっちゃうよ。
I have to run every day, but I really hate it. It’s really tough, and I’m always sweating. My whole body gets drenched, and I end up smelling.
The adjectival noun 大嫌い（な）, as is evident from the addition of the prefix 大～, indicates extreme dislike/hate.
3. 大嫌いなスポーツはありますか。
Are there any sports that you hate?
4. 嫌いな人のことで悩む。
To fret over people who you hate.
5. スカンクが嫌いなの。(Feminine)
I hate skunks.
6. 好き嫌い
Likes and dislikes
7. 平気で嘘つく人が大嫌いなの。(Feminine)
I hate people that can just flat out lie in your face.
8. 彼女は野球が大嫌いです。
She really hates baseball.
The pattern 嫌いがある is often used to show bad tendency.
9. 人前で鼻くそをほじる嫌いがある女性と付き合ったことある？
Have you ever dated a girl who picks her nose in public?
10. 蛙を棒で叩く嫌いがある、そのいたずらっ子はまたほかの小学生の目の前で蛙を殺したばっかりなんだよ。どうしたらいいのかさっぱり分からんよ。
That bad kid that likes to hit frogs with sticks just killed a frog in front of the other elementary kids. I have no idea what we’re going to do with him.
嫌う
The verb 嫌う may translate into English as “to detest/hate.” The hatred described pertains to a strong dislikes, and it is generally more powerful in nuance than both 嫌い（な）and 大嫌い（な）.
11. 人は何故矛盾を嫌うのでしょう。
Why do people despise contradiction?
12. いじめっ子を嫌うとしても、何の役にも立たないでしょう。
Even if you were to hate the bully, that does nothing, no?
13. 僕を嫌わないで。
Don’t hate me.
On the flip side, 嫌う may also refer to animals and plants disliking something. When used with non-living things, it shows that two things are not compatible such as fire and water.
14. 本は湿気を嫌う。
Books hate moisture.
15. 吸血鬼は日光を嫌う。
Vampires hate sunlight.
You may also encounter the form 嫌わず, which uses the old negative auxiliary verb ～ず, which functions as ～ないで, which indicates doing something without even giving a dime about the place or person in question.
17. 中国では所嫌わず唾を吐いてしまうと、逮捕されるそうだ。
They say that if you spit carelessly anywhere in China that you get arrested.
Etymology Note: 嫌う potentially comes from the verb 切る + the Old Japanese auxiliary verb ～ふ, which had a similar meaning to ～ている.
いやだ
いやだ, written in Kanji as 嫌だ or rarely as 厭だ, is very similar to 嫌いだ, but there are considerable differences. いやだ refers to situations in which you reject a person’s request or invitation or a certain circumstance.
18. こんな時に行くなんていやだよ。
No way am I going at a time like this.
19. 「先輩、先に帰ってもいいですか？」「いやだよ」
“Senpai, is it alright if I go home first?” “No way.”
20. 息子がいやなことばかりするから、 どうしつけたらいいか分かりません。
Because my son keeps on doing bad things, I don’t know how to discipline him.
21. 嫌だから、やめてちょうだい。
No, that’s bad. Please quit it.
22. 猫に触られるのもいやになってきた。
I’ve gotten to the point that it’s awful to be touched by cats.
23. いやな気分になっても、平気でやりつづけなさい。
Continue to work calmly even if you feel uncomfortable.
When you use いやだ to demonstrate that you are unaccepting of a certain person or thing, it is far stronger than 嫌いだ.
24. 健太くんなんか嫌いだよ。
I really don’t like Kenta.
25. 健太くんなんかいやだよ。
Kenta is just no good.
While Ex. 24 does show hatred towards Kenta, Ex. 25 is to the point that you do not even want to recognize his existence.
嫌がる・嫌がらせ
You cannot just use 嫌だ for referring to what someone else hates/dislikes. Instead, you have to couple this with the auxiliary 〜がる. The nominal form of the causative form of 嫌がる, 嫌がらせ, actually means “nuisance/annoyance”. 嫌がらせをする happens to mean “to annoy (someone).”
26. 他人がいやがる仕事だけ引き受ける人、かわいそうだな。おれにもそんなことできないけどね。
People that only handle jobs that everyone else dislikes are pitiful, aren’t they? I sure couldn’t do any of it.
27. まず嫌がらせをした人の気持ちをよく考えればいいと思います。
I think you need to first think really hard about the feelings of the person you annoyed.
だめ（な）
The adjectival noun だめ（な）, spelled in Kanji as 駄目だ, is used to show that something is impossible or incompatible in light of the circumstances. It is often objective, although objectivity is not necessarily something natives think about when they use this word.
28. そもそも意味が重複したら、だめでしょうか。
Is it really bad in the first place for the meaning to be doubled?
29. 「先輩、お先に帰ってもいいですか？」「ううん、だめだよ。まだ仕事あるから。」
“Senpai, is it alright if I go home first?” “No, that won’t work because we still have things to do.”
30. 健太なんかだめだよ。
Kenta is bad.
Sentence Note: Ex. 30 is a qualification of some attribute to Kenta, not necessarily that you hate him.
憎む
Rarely spelled as 悪む and the primary verbal form of 憎い, this verb shows that you think something or someone is detestable. This verb can also be used to show abhorrence to an abstract thing such as an ideology or war.
31. 大統領を憎む。
To detest the president.
32. 共産主義を憎む。
To detest communism.
33. 戦争を憎む。
To detest war.
34.恋敵を憎むことが当然でしょう。
It’s only natural to detest a love rival.
35. 罪を憎んで、人を憎まず。（Set Phrase)
Hate the sin, not the person.
憎らしい
憎らしい points out the (condition of the) person that makes you mad. Ironically, it is not always the case that this word has negative connotations.
36. 若者の砕けたスラングだらけの話し方が憎らしい。
The broken down, slang filled speech of young people is detestable.
37. 愛犬を死なせた、あの人が憎らしい。
That person who let my beloved dog die is detestable.
38. 憎らしい口を利く。
To say hateful things.
39. 彼女はあまりにもかわいくて憎らしくなってきた。(Ironic)
She’s just so cute that it’s gotten to me.
憎い
Unlike the opposite of love, 憎い expresses emotion of feeling displeasure, irritation, envy, etc. towards/about someone. It is you yourself who feels this discomfort. It also happens to have the old meaning of “ugly,” which is now typically handled by 醜い except in rare circumstances.
40. 不正を許す大臣が憎い。
I hate prime ministers who allow injustice.
41. 坊主憎けりゃ袈裟まで憎い。(Set Phrase)
Literally: If you hate a bonze, you also hate his kesa.
He who hates Peter harms his dogs.
42. 妻がとっても憎いもんだ。
I really hate my wife.
43. あんた、憎いこと言うね。(Ironic)
You really do say some provoking things.
憎々しい・憎（っ）たらしい
Both these words are emphatic variants of 憎らしい.
44. 彼は憎々しげにあのうるさい猫を蹴ったが、すぐその後、あの猫が怪我で死んで、ひどく後悔した。
He viciously kicked that annoying cat, but shortly afterwards, that cat died from its injuries, and he was filled with remorse.
45. あの人はね、とっても憎たらしいよ。
That person just really infuriates me.
憎しみ
Rather than using 憎み, which is a word but not used as a noun, as the nominal form of 憎む, 憎しみ is typically used1.
46. 憎しみを覚える。
To feel hatred/enmity.
47. 憎しみの炎を燃やす。
To fuel the flames of hatred.
気に食わない
The idiom 気に食わない2 indicates the speaker’s inability to stomach something out of sheer dislike/disdain.
48. 見くびられるの、気に食わない。
I can’t stand being looked down at (by others).
49. あいつ、ちっとも気にくわねーよ。
I just can’t stand that guy.
嫌悪
This word is “hatred” by definition, and rather cruel hatred to be exact. A common misuse of the word is made by natives when the suffix ～感 is attached.
50. 嫌悪感を感じる X/△
To feel hatred.
Ex. 50 is an example of a 重複表現 (duplicate expression), in which either a semantic or syntactic element is doubled. Rather than using the verb 感じる, this can be remedied by using the verbs 覚える or 持つ.
51. 分かりづらいことばかり言う人に嫌悪感が覚える。
To feel disgust towards people who only say things that are difficult to understand.
52. 自己嫌悪に陥る。
To fall into self-hatred.
53. 自分の母親の殺人に対して嫌悪を持つのは人情というものだ。
It’s only human nature to hold hatred against the murderer of your own mother.
54. 世界中の人々は残酷さを嫌悪すべきだ。
Everyone in the world should abhor cruelty.
毛嫌いする
毛嫌いする has the particular nuance of hating something for no particular reason.
55. 怠け者を毛嫌いしたほうがいい。
It’s best to just hate lazy people.
56. インテリーを毛嫌いするのですか。
Do you just hate intellectuals?
57. わけもなく村上春樹さんの小説を毛嫌いする人ってバカだよね。
Those that hate Murakami Haruki’s novels for no reason are stupid, aren’t they?
不愉快（な）
Although not necessarily hatred, 不愉快（な）, the antonym of 愉快（な）, denotes something as being “unpleasant,” and it is used frequently in the spoken language.
58. ちょっと不愉快な思いをした。
It was a bit unpleasant for me.
59. 不愉快な現実を認めなければなりません。
You must recognize the unpleasant reality.
60. 不愉快な人と話すのはいやだね。
Speaking to unpleasant people is awful, isn’t it?
61. 本当に不愉快なやつだね、黒田君は。
He’s really a pain, that guy Kuroda.
憎悪
憎悪 is a rather literary word which translates as “abhorrence.” Meaning, it denotes a very violent hatred.
62. 憎悪に満ちた目で睨む。
To stare down with eyes full of revulsion.
63. 人種差別を憎悪する。
To abhor racial discrimination.
64. 憎悪の炎を燃やす。
To fuel the flames of abhorrence.
65. 公開の場で憎悪の感情を抑えなくてはいけない。
You must control your feelings of hatred in public.
66. 憎悪に駆られてはならない。
You can’t get caught up in anger.
67. 憎悪で狂ったように人を殴ったり蹴ったりしてしまう。
To end up beating up and kicking people in a fit of mad rage.
忌む
忌む is a literary verb which translates as “to abhor/shun,” indicating actions that ought to be viewed as taboo. It is often seen in the combination 忌み嫌う, which translates as “to loathe.”
68. 忌むべき者の篝火
Bonfire of the damned
69. 国民は革新を忌む方がよい。
It is best for the citizens to abhor the notion of revolution.
70. 日本人が死に通じるとして四を忌むことはアメリカ人でも知っている。
Even Americans know about the Japanese hating the number four because it correlates to death.
厭う
The literary verb 厭う means “to begrudge,”, but its negative form 厭わない is often translated as “willing” or more literally as “to not begrudge in.”
71. 彼女は手を差し出すこともいとわない。
She is willing to lend a hand.
72. 彼は要請に応じることをいといません。
He is willing to answer to our requests.
73. 世をいとうな。
Hate not the world.
74. お体をおいといください3。
Please be careful to take care of your body.
厭わしい
The adjectival form of 厭う, 厭わしい is a very literary adjective meaning “detestable/deplorable.”
75. あの顔を見ることさえ厭わしい。
Just looking at that face is deplorable.
厭悪
厭悪 is a very literary word meaning “detestation.”
76. 双方ともに、自らの側に絶対不可分にして圧倒的な正義のあることをつねづね主張し、当然の嫌悪を抱いて相手の底知れぬ邪悪に、その野望、冷酷さ、背信、陰謀の数々に厭悪の眼差しを向けていた。
I always insisted on what was completely mutually inseparable on my own side as absolute righteousness, and I naturally held hatred and looked upon my enemy’s bottomless evil, their ambition, their cruelty, their treachery, and their endless conspiracies with detestation.
From 智慧の林檎.
77. 厭悪の眼差し
Gaze of detestation
- Though 憎しみ does derive from the verbal form 憎しむ, the latter is no longer used in Modern Japanese. ↩︎
- The verb 食う is frequently alternatively spelled as 喰う. ↩︎
- Aside from meaning “to begrudge,” いとう also has the meaning of “to take care of,” and in this sense, it is etymologically related to the verb 労わる (to tend to/care for). ↩︎