目覚ましい

Japanese

Kanji in this term
目 覚
め
Grade: 1
さ > ざ
Grade: 4
kun’yomi
Alternative spellings
目覺ましい (kyūjitai)
目覚しい

Etymology

Derived during the Heian period from the now-obsolete verb 目覚む (mezamu, “to wake; to clear one's eyes”, both transitive and intransitive; developed into modern 目覚める (mezameru, intransitive) and 目覚ます (mezamasu, transitive)), from the 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete form”) mezama + classical adjectivizing suffix し (shi), modern しい (shii).[1]

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) めざまし​い [mèzámáshíꜜì] (Nakadaka – [4])[1]
  • IPA(key): [me̞za̠ma̠ɕiː]
  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of "目覚しい"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 目覚しく めざま​しく
めざまし​く
[mèzámáꜜshìkù]
[mèzámáshíꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形) 目覚しい めざまし​い [mèzámáshíꜜì]
Attributive (連体形) 目覚しい めざまし​い [mèzámáshíꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative 目覚しくない めざま​しくない
めざまし​くない
[mèzámáꜜshìkùnàì]
[mèzámáshíꜜkùnàì]
Informal past 目覚しかった めざま​しかった
めざまし​かった
[mèzámáꜜshìkàttà]
[mèzámáshíꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past 目覚しくなかった めざま​しくなかった
めざまし​くなかった
[mèzámáꜜshìkùnàkàttà]
[mèzámáshíꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal 目覚しいです めざまし​いです [mèzámáshíꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive 目覚しくて めざま​しくて
めざまし​くて
[mèzámáꜜshìkùtè]
[mèzámáshíꜜkùtè]
Conditional 目覚しければ めざま​しければ
めざまし​ければ
[mèzámáꜜshìkèrèbà]
[mèzámáshíꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

目(め)覚(ざ)ましい • (mezamashii) -i (adverbial 目(め)覚(ざ)ましく (mezamashiku))

  1. wonderful, brilliant, splendid, astonishing, striking

Usage notes

Not to be confused with 目覚まし (mezameshi, “waking”, noun).

Inflection

Derived terms

  • 目覚(めざ)ましがる (mezamashigaru, “to think of something as wonderful, astonishing, striking”)

References

  1. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
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