迷惑 (meiwaku) means nuisance, trouble, or inconvenience caused to someone. 迷惑をかける means to cause another person trouble, and the person affected can be marked with に. ご迷惑をおかけしました is a polite apology for inconvenience. 迷惑メール is spam.
forms meiwaku o kakeru / gomeiwaku / meiwaku na
trouble · nuisance · inconvenience to somebody else
Sentences
6 sentences, word by word
迷惑だ · as a predicate
plain
。
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隣
となり ［0］
next door
noun · the house, room or seat immediately beside yours
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の
の
links noun to noun
particle · A の B = B belonging to A
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騒音
そうおん ［0］
noise
noun · unwanted noise specifically; 音 is any sound at all
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が
が
marks the subject
particle · what the sentence is about — with 好き, 分かる and potentials, the object
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迷惑
めいわく ［1］
is a nuisance
な-adjective · as the predicate it drops the な
迷惑N3a nuisance
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だ
だ
is
plain copula · です in polite speech, and often dropped in casual speech
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The noise from next door is a nuisance.
迷惑をかける · plain past
plain
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みんな
みんな
everyone
noun · 皆 in kanji, though it is usually left in kana
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に
に
to — the ones it landed on
particle · marks the person who ends up carrying the trouble
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迷惑
めいわく ［1］
trouble
noun here, not an adjective · it is the object of かける
迷惑をかけるN3cause trouble
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を
を
marks the direct object
particle · pronounced お
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かけた
かけた
caused
plain past of かける · 迷惑をかける is a fixed pair, never 迷惑をする
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I caused everyone a lot of trouble.
迷惑をかけないように · the line every child hears
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人
ひと ［0］
other people
noun · here it means people in general, not one particular person
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に
に
to; at; into
particle · a point something reaches — a place, a time, a person, or a state
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迷惑
めいわく ［1］
trouble
noun · the object half of the collocation
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を
を
marks the direct object
particle · pronounced お
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かけない
かけない
not cause
plain negative of かける · かけません in polite speech
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ように
ように
so that you don't
ように ＋ しなさい · sets a standing aim rather than one action
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しなさい
しなさい
see that you do
なさい imperative · a parent or a teacher to a child, and only downward
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See that you don't cause other people trouble.
ご迷惑をおかけして · the written apology
polite
。
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ご迷惑
ごめいわく
the trouble — yours
honorific ご · the inconvenience belongs to the listener, so it takes ご
ご迷惑N3the inconvenience caused
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を
を
marks the direct object
particle · pronounced お
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おかけして
おかけして
having caused, and…
humble お ＋ かけ ＋ する in て-form · おかけしました in the past
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申し訳ありません
もうしわけありません
I am very sorry
set apology · literally “there is no excuse”
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I am very sorry for the inconvenience.
迷惑な ＋ noun
polite
。
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それ
それ ［1］
that
pronoun · the thing near the listener, or the thing just mentioned
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は
は
as for — the topic
particle · written は, read わ
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迷惑な
めいわくな
thoroughly inconsiderate
attributive 迷惑 · な appears the moment a noun follows
迷惑なN3inconsiderate
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行為
こうい ［1］
act; conduct
noun · formal, and the word you see on public notices
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です
です
(polite ending)
copula · the polite counterpart of だ
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That is antisocial behaviour.
迷惑メール
plain
。
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迷惑メール
めいわくメール
spam
compound noun · 迷惑 ＋ メール, literally nuisance mail
迷惑メールN3spam
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が
が
marks the subject
particle · what the sentence is about — with 好き, 分かる and potentials, the object
迷惑な話, 迷惑な客. Before a noun it needs な — 迷惑の話 is wrong. Adverbially it is 迷惑に思う, to find something a nuisance.
Person ＋ に＋迷惑をかける
The core collocation. かける, not する — 迷惑をする does not exist. Past 迷惑をかけた, negative 迷惑をかけない.
Noun ＋ は＋迷惑だ
As a predicate the な disappears: 騒音は迷惑だ, polite 迷惑です. Said straight to a person this is an accusation, not a complaint.
ご迷惑をおかけして＋apology
The fixed opener of every delay notice, outage page and written apology: ご迷惑をおかけして申し訳ございません. Past ご迷惑をおかけしました.
Meaning
迷惑 vs 邪魔 vs 面倒 — whose trouble is it?
迷惑 is trouble with a direction. Somebody does something, and the cost of it lands on somebody else. That is why the word is almost never free-floating: there is a person in the sentence marked に, even when it is only the vague 人に, other people. English “inconvenience” gets close, but it is too mild — 迷惑 covers everything from a noisy neighbour to a genuine burden you have placed on a friend.
邪魔 is being in the way; 迷惑 is the harm.邪魔 is obstruction at a moment — a bag in a doorway, a person standing where you need to look, an interruption while you work. It is also friendly enough to be a greeting: お邪魔します is what you say stepping into someone's home, and nobody thinks you are apologising. There is no equivalent お迷惑します, and there never will be.
面倒 is effort; 迷惑 has a victim.面倒 is the hassle of doing a thing, borne by whoever has to do it — 手続きが面倒だ, the paperwork is a pain. Nobody is wronged. 迷惑 always implies somebody has been, which is why it carries a moral weight the other two do not.
Both directions exist, and they are not the same word.迷惑をかける means you are the cause; 迷惑している means you are the one suffering — 隣の音に迷惑している, the noise next door is getting to me. Get the two backwards and you have confessed to the thing you were complaining about. And 人に迷惑をかけないように — don't be a burden on other people — is close to the single most-repeated line in Japanese childhood, which is worth knowing before you use the word lightly.
Inside the word
迷 ＋ 惑 — where the meaning comes from
迷 — めい · lose the way
The road radical 辶 under 米, rice, which is here only for the sound. Everything it builds is about not knowing which way to go: 迷う to hesitate or get lost, 迷子 a lost child — read まいご, irregularly — 迷路 a maze, and 迷信, superstition, belief that has wandered off.
惑 — わく · be at a loss
或 for the sound sitting on 心, the heart — a heart that cannot settle. It gives 困惑 bewilderment, 誘惑 temptation and 疑惑 suspicion. The Analects line 四十にして惑わず, at forty I was no longer at a loss, is why forty is still called 不惑 in formal Japanese.
迷惑 — めいわく · lost and at a loss, but not yours
In Chinese the compound still means confused, describing the person who has it. Japanese turned it around: the word now names the state you inflict on somebody else, and the confusion has faded out of it entirely. The accent is head-high — め is high and everything after it drops, including a following particle.
Watch out
Where 迷惑 goes wrong
Saying 迷惑です to somebody's face
It is not the mild “this is inconvenient” it looks like — it tells a person they are a problem, and it lands hard. If you need somebody to stop, ちょっと困ります or やめていただけますか does the job. Save 迷惑 for describing the situation rather than the person in front of you.
迷惑をかける and 迷惑している point opposite ways
かける means you are the cause; 迷惑している means the trouble is landing on you — 隣の音に迷惑している. Swap them and you have confessed to the exact thing you meant to complain about. に appears either way and marks opposite roles: with かける it is the person troubled (人に迷惑をかける), with している it is the cause (隣の音に迷惑している).
Dropping the humble layer when it actually matters
迷惑をかけました is fine to a friend and too flat to a customer, a client or a landlord. The expected shape is ご迷惑をおかけしました — honorific ご because the trouble is theirs, humble おかけする because the cause was you.
Also asked
Questions people ask about 迷惑
What does 迷惑 (meiwaku) mean?
Trouble or inconvenience caused to somebody else. It is a noun and a な-adjective: 迷惑な話 before a noun, 迷惑だ as a predicate. The part English translations lose is the direction — 迷惑 is never just “trouble”, it is trouble somebody is on the receiving end of.
What does 迷惑をかける mean, and which particle marks the person?
To cause somebody trouble. The person takes に and the trouble takes を: 友達に迷惑をかけた. The verb is かける, literally to hang something on somebody — 迷惑をする is not Japanese.
迷惑 or 邪魔 — which one do I want?
邪魔 if something is physically in the way or interrupting you; 迷惑 if somebody is actually being harmed or burdened. A bag blocking the aisle is 邪魔. A neighbour playing music at 2am is 迷惑. And お邪魔します is a polite greeting on entering a home, with no 迷惑 equivalent.
What does ご迷惑をおかけして申し訳ございません mean?
“I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused.” It is the standard opening of written apologies, service outages and delay announcements. The past version ご迷惑をおかけしました is for trouble already over; the て-form here leads into the apology that follows.
What is 迷惑メール?
Spam — 迷惑 ＋ メール, nuisance mail. It is the word Japanese mail clients use for the junk folder. The same construction gives 迷惑電話 for nuisance calls and 迷惑行為 for antisocial behaviour, which is the phrase on station and train posters.
Is it rude to tell somebody 迷惑です?
Yes, quite. It reads as an accusation rather than a request, and in a workplace or a neighbour dispute it escalates things immediately. Describe the situation instead — 音が少し気になります — or use ご迷惑になるので when explaining a rule to somebody, which puts the trouble on a third party rather than on them.
References
Sources and usage notes
Kotobank: 迷惑 — Defines inconvenience caused to others and gives 人に迷惑をかける.
