嫌いな（きらいな、kiraina）
- unfavorite

嫌いな means "disliked," "hated," or "not liking" something or someone. It describes a feeling of aversion or displeasure. It's an adjective that modifies a noun and indicates that the speaker does not enjoy or approve of the subject. The feeling can range from mild dislike to strong aversion. 嫌いな is a na-adjective.

⚫︎ 私は納豆が嫌いな Translation: I dislike natto. ⚫︎ 彼は嘘をつく人が嫌いな Translation: He dislikes people who tell lies. ⚫︎ 猫が嫌いな人がいる Translation: There are people who dislike cats.

You use 嫌いな to express what you don't like. It is typically followed by the particle が (ga) when the thing or person you dislike is the subject of the sentence. Remember that 嫌いな is a na-adjective, so it behaves differently from i-adjectives. It requires a copula (usually です or だ) to function as a predicate. For example: 私は納豆が嫌いです (I dislike natto).

嫌いな is typically written as 嫌いな. ⚫︎ Hiragana: きらいな ⚫︎ Kanji: 嫌い (きらい) ⚫︎ Okurigana: The okurigana is "い". There are no other common ways to write this word. The okurigana is standard.

⚫︎ 苦手な (nigatena) - "not good at," can imply dislike. ⚫︎ 嫌悪する (ken'o suru) - "to loathe," a more intense form of dislike (verb). ⚫︎ 嫌がる (iyagaru) - "to dislike," "to hate" (verb).

⚫︎ 好きな (sukina) - "liked," "to like" ⚫︎ 愛する (aisuru) - "to love" (verb)

私は辛い食べ物が嫌いな ・Translation: I dislike spicy food. ・Explanation: This sentence expresses a personal preference, stating that the speaker doesn't like food that is spicy.

彼は人混みが嫌いな ・Translation: He dislikes crowds. ・Explanation: This sentence indicates that the person dislikes crowded places.

The word 嫌い (kirai) comes from the verb 嫌う (kirau), which means "to hate" or "to dislike." The suffix "-な" (-na) turns the word into a na-adjective, modifying a noun or being used as part of a predicate.