硬い
かたい
Also written 固い, 堅い, 緊い
Meanings
- い-adjective hard; solid; tough (esp. 固い and 堅い for wood, 硬い for metal and stone)
- stiff; tight; wooden; unpolished (e.g. writing)
- strong; firm (not viscous or easily moved)
- safe; steady; honest; steadfast
- certain; assured; highly likely (of a predicted outcome)
- obstinate; stubborn
- bookish; formal; stuffy Antonym: くだけた.
- solid (shape or stones)
Kanji
- 硬 hard. Read as かたい.
Example sentences
- 堅い書き物は大嫌いだ。
I utterly despise formal writing! - 靴は新しい間は硬い。
Shoes are stiff when they are new. - 海の氷はきわめて変わりやすい——寒く風のない天候のときは固く凍っているが、嵐のときは外洋の広い水域で割れてしまう。
The sea ice is highly variable - frozen solid during cold, calm weather and broken up in large areas of open water during storms. - 我々は勝利をかたく確信している。
We are firmly confident of victory. - 医師の警告で禁酒の決意が固くなった。
The doctor's warning stiffened my resolve to stop drinking.
Common phrases
- 硬い部分
- 堅い守り
- 堅い守備
- 硬い殻
- 固い絆
- 義理堅い (ぎりがたい) possessed of a strong sense of duty
- 硬い岩盤
- 体が硬い
- お堅い (おかたい) strict
- 硬い地面
- 固い決意
- 固い地盤
- 守りが堅い
- 口が堅い (くちがかたい) tight-lipped
- 固い約束 (かたいやくそく) solemn promise