JLPT N2い-adjectiveUpdated 2026-09-25

悔しい（くやしい） kuyashii meaning

悔しい (kuyashii) expresses bitter frustration or regret. It is common after a loss, failure, or missed chance: 負けて悔しい means being upset about losing. The feeling can also concern one’s own actions, so it is broader than frustration at a rival. 後悔する focuses on regretting a decision.

also kuyashii / kuyashikatta / kuyashinamida

galling · bitter about losing · eating at you

Sentences

6 sentences, word by word

悔しい · said bare

plain

。

Hover, tap, or tab through the words.

悔しい

くやしい［3］

galling; I hate that I lost

い-adjective standing alone · a complete utterance

悔しいN2galling

Ask Rikai

Damn it.

〜て悔しかった

plain past

。

Hover, tap, or tab through the words.

試合

しあい［0］

match; game

noun · a contest between sides, not a solo event

Ask Rikai

に

to; at; into

particle · a point something reaches — a place, a time, a person, or a state

Ask Rikai

負けて

まけて

lost and

て-form of 負ける · に marks who or what you lost to

Ask Rikai

悔しかった

くやしかった

it stung

past of 悔しい · the standard way to report the feeling afterwards

悔しいN2galling

Ask Rikai

Losing that match really got to me.

悔しくて＋結果

plain past

。

Hover, tap, or tab through the words.

悔しくて

くやしくて

so galling that

て-form of an emotion adjective · gives the cause of what follows

悔しいN2galling

Ask Rikai

涙

なみだ［1］

tears

noun · pairs with 出る, not with a verb of crying

Ask Rikai

が

marks the subject

particle · what the sentence is about — with 好き, 分かる and potentials, the object

Ask Rikai

出た

でた

came

plain past of 出る · ichidan, so 出て, 出ない, 出た

Ask Rikai

It stung so much I started crying.

悔しい思いをする

plain past

。

Hover, tap, or tab through the words.

私

わたし［0］

I; me

pronoun · often dropped, kept here for the contrast

Ask Rikai

も

too; as well

particle · replaces を and が, never stacks with them

Ask Rikai

悔しい

くやしい［3］

galling

い-adjective in front of a noun · no な needed

悔しいN2galling

Ask Rikai

思い

おもい［2］

experience; feeling

noun from 思う · 思いをする is the fixed phrase for undergoing a feeling

Ask Rikai

を

marks the direct object

particle · pronounced お

Ask Rikai

した

did; went through

plain past of する · here it means to undergo, not to do

Ask Rikai

I've had that bitter taste before too.

悔しいけど · conceding

plain

。

Hover, tap, or tab through the words.

悔しい

くやしい［3］

it galls me

い-adjective before けど · a whole clause on its own

悔しいN2galling

Ask Rikai

けど

but

conjunction · the casual half of けれども

Ask Rikai

彼

かれ［1］

pronoun · also boyfriend in the right context

Ask Rikai

の

links noun to noun

particle · A の B = B belonging to A

Ask Rikai

ほうが

is the one that's more

comparison frame · ほう marks the side that wins

Ask Rikai

上手

じょうず［3］

skilled

な-adjective · about someone else's skill, never modestly your own

Ask Rikai

だ

plain copula · required after a な-adjective, unlike an い-adjective

Ask Rikai

It galls me to say it, but he's better.

悔し涙 · the compound

plain past

。

Hover, tap, or tab through the words.

彼女

かのじょ［1］

she

pronoun · also girlfriend depending on context

Ask Rikai

は

as for — the topic

particle · written は, read わ

Ask Rikai

悔し涙

くやしなみだ［4］

tears of frustration

compound noun · 悔し, the stem, ＋涙

悔しいN2galling

Ask Rikai

を

marks the direct object

particle · pronounced お

Ask Rikai

流した

ながした

shed

plain past of 流す · the set verb for shedding tears

Ask Rikai

She cried tears of pure frustration.

Forms

What forms does 悔しい take?

悔しい

A complete utterance on its own, said out loud, no subject and no verb. This is the form you will actually hear first.

Event＋悔しかった

負けて悔しかった. The past is how you report the feeling once the match, the exam or the argument is finished.

悔しくて＋Result

悔しくて涙が出た. The て-form of an emotion adjective gives a cause — so galling that this happened.

悔し＋涙 / がる

悔し涙, tears of it. 悔しがる, to show it — the がる form, because Japanese will not let you state another person's feeling flatly.

Meaning

悔しい vs 残念 vs 後悔

The three get taught as a group and mean quite different things. 悔しい is hot and personal: you lost, it was close, and it is eating you. It often follows a loss against a rival or standard, but can also express regret — a match, a test, an argument, a job you did not get.

残念 is cool and social. It means a shame, and it is what you say about someone else's bad luck or about a mild disappointment of your own: 残念でしたね. Say 残念 about your own crushing defeat and you sound like you did not care much; say 悔しい about your friend's cancelled holiday and you sound like you wanted it more than they did.

後悔 is regret, and it points at a decision you made: 後悔している, I wish I had chosen otherwise. 悔しい does not require that you did anything wrong. You can play perfectly and still be 悔しい, because the other side played better.

It is a socially approved feeling. Coaches want to hear it, interviewers ask for it, and a losing player who says 悔しいです to a camera is doing exactly the expected thing. English has no comfortable public register for "I hate that I lost", which is a large part of why the word will not translate.

Inside the word

悔 — the character for chewing on it afterwards

悔 — く・や, from 忄 heart

The heart radical 忄 on the left, 毎 on the right for the sound. Every word built on it is about the mind returning to something it cannot change — 悔しい, 後悔, 悔やむ, 悔い.

悔やむ and お悔やみ

The verb 悔やむ is to rue something, and its polite noun お悔やみ means condolences — お悔やみ申し上げます is the standard thing said at a funeral. Same character, and a good reminder of how much weight it carries.

悔しがる — showing it, not feeling it

Japanese does not let you assert another person's inner state flatly, so 彼は悔しい sounds wrong. The fix is 悔しがる, to act frustrated, or 悔しそう, to look it. Both describe the outside, which is all you can actually see.

Watch out

Where 悔しい goes wrong

Saying 彼は悔しいです

You can only state your own feelings this baldly. For somebody else use 悔しそうです, they look it, or 悔しがっています, they are showing it. The same rule governs 嬉しい, 寂しい and every other feeling adjective.

Using it for ordinary frustration

A slow website alone usually calls for イライラする. 悔しい often follows a loss, failure, or regretted outcome.

Offering 悔しいですね as sympathy

It claims the feeling as shared, which is fine between teammates and odd from a stranger. The neutral sympathetic line is 残念でしたね. Save 悔しい for when the loss was genuinely yours too.

Also asked

Questions people ask about 悔しい

What does 悔しい mean exactly?

The bitter, galling feeling of having lost something that was within reach — aimed at the situation and at yourself at once. English splits it across frustrated, gutted, and it really gets to me, and none of them carry the whole thing.

悔しい or 残念 — which one?

悔しい is hot and yours: you lost and it burns. 残念 is cool and social: that's a shame. 残念でしたね is what you say to someone else; 悔しい is what they say back.

悔しい or 後悔 — what's the difference?

後悔 is regret over a choice you made and could have made differently. 悔しい needs no mistake at all — you can do everything right, lose anyway, and be thoroughly 悔しい about it.

Why do Japanese athletes say 悔しいです in interviews?

Because it is the expected answer, and a well-regarded one. Admitting the loss still stings shows you cared and intend to come back, which is exactly what a coach or a crowd wants to hear. English has no equally comfortable public way to say it.

What is 悔し涙?

Tears of frustration — the compound uses the adjective stem 悔し rather than the full 悔しい. It is completely ordinary to say about a player or a child, and it pairs with 流す: 悔し涙を流す.

How do I say someone else is 悔しい?

Not with the plain adjective. Use 悔しそう, they look it, or 悔しがっている, they are showing it. Japanese treats another person's inner state as something you infer rather than something you can assert.

References