遅い（おそい、osoi）
- slow

The Japanese word 遅い (おそい) primarily means "slow," "late," or "delayed." It describes a situation or an action that takes more time than expected or that happens after the expected time. The meaning can vary depending on the context, but the core concept revolves around being behind schedule or not being prompt. It can be used to describe both speed and time. The adjective can describe a state or a feeling.

⚫︎電車が遅い Translation: The train is [遅い] (late). ⚫︎歩くのが遅い Translation: To walk [slowly]. ⚫︎返事が遅い Translation: The reply is [遅い] (slow/delayed).

遅い is used in various situations. You can use it to talk about: ⚫︎ Time: Describing something that is [遅い] to start, finish, or arrive. ⚫︎ Speed: Describing something that moves slowly. ⚫︎ Progress: Describing slow progress on a task. ⚫︎ Actions: Describing a delay in doing something. It's a versatile adjective and can be applied in many conversational scenarios.

⚫︎ This word is written in hiragana as おそい. ⚫︎ The kanji form is 遅い. ⚫︎ Okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is usually "い."

⚫︎ ゆっくり (yukkuri) - slowly (adverb). ⚫︎ のろい (noroi) - slow (implies clumsiness or sluggishness). ⚫︎ 時間通りではない (jikan doori dewa nai) - Not on time. ⚫︎ 遅れる (okureru) - To be late/delayed (verb).

⚫︎ 早い (hayai) - fast, early. ⚫︎ 速い (hayai) - fast (referring to speed). ⚫︎ 早い (hayai) - early.

彼はいつも学校に遅い。 ・Translation: He is always late for school. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 遅い (conjugated to its polite form, which is "late" in this case) to describe someone's tendency to arrive at school after the designated time.

このパソコンはちょっと遅い。 ・Translation: This computer is a little slow. ・Explanation: Here, 遅い (conjugated to its polite form "slow") describes the computer's speed.

The etymology of 遅い is not completely clear, but the kanji 遅 itself is composed of two parts: the radical 辶, which indicates "movement" or "walking," and the character 㞢, which originally represented "to stop" or "to cease." The combination of these suggests the concept of movement being delayed or slowed, leading to the meaning of "late" or "slow."