不味い（まずい、mazui）
- bad (taste)

The Japanese word 不味い (まずい - *mazui*) means "tasty" or "bad-tasting". It is used to describe food that is unpleasant to eat, lacking flavor, or simply not good. The word implies a negative sensory experience related to the taste of something. It is a common and versatile adjective used in everyday conversations to express dissatisfaction with food.

⚫︎このレストランの料理はまずいね。 Translation: The food at this restaurant is not tasty, isn't it? ⚫︎このケーキはまずかった。 Translation: This cake wasn't tasty. ⚫︎スープがまずくて、全部食べられなかった。 Translation: The soup was bad-tasting, and I couldn't eat it all.

You can use 不味い (まずい) to express your opinion about the taste of food when you want to be honest about it being unpleasant. It's suitable for situations where you're talking with friends, family, or in casual settings. Using it in more formal situations or with someone you don't know well might be considered impolite, so you might want to use a more polite alternative. You can use it when you are actually tasting the food. The basic form is used to describe current condition, while the past tense describes what has happened.

不味い is typically written in kanji and hiragana: 不味い. • The kanji 不 (fu) means "not" or "un-". • The kanji 味 (aji) means "taste". • The hiragana い (i) is an adjective ending. • The verb form of this word is 不味くなる. • The conjugation changes to match the tense and politeness level. For example: - まずかった (*mazukatta* - was not tasty) - まずいでしょう (*mazui deshou* - probably not tasty) - まずくない (*mazukunai* - not tasty)

⚫︎美味しくない (*oishikunai*) - not tasty; the most common and generally polite synonym. ⚫︎味がしない (*aji ga shinai*) - has no taste; lacks flavor. ⚫︎まずさ (*mazusa*) - the state of being not tasty. (noun)

⚫︎美味しい (*oishii*) - tasty; delicious. ⚫︎うまい (*umai*) - tasty, delicious (more casual than 美味しい).

このカレーはちょっとまずい。 ・Translation: This curry is a little not tasty. ・Explanation: This sentence directly uses まずい to express that the speaker doesn't think the curry tastes very good.

彼女はまずい料理を作ることで有名です。 ・Translation: She is famous for making bad-tasting food. ・Explanation: This sentence uses まずい to describe someone's cooking skill.

The word 不味い (まずい) is composed of: • 不 (fu) - "not," "un-" • 味 (aji) - "taste" • い (i) - adjective ending. Therefore, the word literally means "not tasty" or "bad taste." The combination of these kanji directly forms the meaning of the word.