English lumps a whole range of "leaning toward" meanings under a couple of vague endings — childish, forgetful, whitish, tends to, a bit of a cold. Japanese divides that territory among three precise suffixes. 〜っぽい judges resemblance or character ("has a quality of, -ish"); 〜がち reports a frequent, usually undesirable inclination ("prone to"); and 〜気味（ぎみ） flags the slight onset of a state ("a touch of"). Getting the right one is an N3 staple, and the sharpest trap — 〜っぽい versus 〜らしい — separates "superficially like" from "properly befitting." This page lays out all three, how each attaches and conjugates, and where their edges are.
〜っぽい: "-ish," has the quality of something
〜っぽい attaches to a noun, an adjective stem, or a verb ます-stem, and the whole word behaves as an i-adjective (子供っぽい, 子供っぽくない, 子供っぽかった). It says the thing carries the quality or appearance of X — often, though not always, with a mildly critical edge.
| Base | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 子供 (noun) | 子供っぽい | childish, immature |
| 白 (adj stem) | 白っぽい | whitish |
| 水 (noun) | 水っぽい | watery |
| 忘れ (verb stem) | 忘れっぽい | forgetful |
| 怒り (verb stem) | 怒りっぽい | quick to anger, irritable |
| 飽き (verb stem) | 飽きっぽい | fickle, easily bored |
| 安 (adj stem) | 安っぽい | cheap-looking, tacky |
彼は怒りっぽいから、話すときは気をつけて。
kare wa okorippoi kara, hanasu toki wa ki o tsukete
He's quick to anger, so be careful when you talk to him.
このスープ、ちょっと水っぽくない？
kono sūpu, chotto mizuppokunai?
Isn't this soup a bit watery?
年のせいか、最近忘れっぽくなった。
toshi no sei ka, saikin wasureppoku natta
Maybe it's my age, but I've gotten forgetful lately.
The verb-stem type (忘れっぽい, 怒りっぽい, 飽きっぽい) describes a disposition — a person who readily does something. The noun type (子供っぽい, 男っぽい, 油っぽい) describes resemblance. Because it is a full i-adjective, the small つ doubles the following consonant in speech: 子供っぽい is kodomoppoi, never kodomo-poi.
〜っぽい vs 〜らしい: superficially like vs truly befitting
This is the distinction examiners love. Both attach to nouns and both roughly touch "like an X," but they point in opposite directions:
- 〜らしい = befitting, typical of, living up to X. It is usually positive or at least neutral — the thing has the genuine, ideal qualities of X.
- 〜っぽい = superficially resembling, giving off the vibe of X. It is about surface appearance and often critical.
彼女は子供らしい素直さを持っている。
kanojo wa kodomorashii sunaosa o motte iru
She has a childlike honesty about her.
いい年をして、考え方が子供っぽい。
ii toshi o shite, kangaekata ga kodomoppoi
He's a grown adult, but his way of thinking is childish.
子供らしい is a compliment — the endearing innocence proper to a child. 子供っぽい is a complaint — immaturity in someone who should have outgrown it. Likewise 男らしい ("manly," an admirable ideal) versus 男っぽい ("mannish, boyish," a surface resemblance, often said of a woman). Keep the compass simple: らしい praises the essence, っぽい notes the surface. The full inference-and-typicality behavior of 〜らしい lives on the 〜らしい: inference and typicality page.
〜がち: prone to, tends to — and usually not in a good way
〜がち attaches to a noun or a verb ます-stem and behaves as a na-adjective (曇りがちな空, 忘れがちだ, 病気がちの子). It reports a frequent inclination, and it carries a strong pull toward the undesirable: you slip into the state more often than you should.
| Base | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 忘れ (verb stem) | 忘れがち | apt to forget |
| 休み (verb stem) | 休みがち | often absent |
| 遅れ (verb stem) | 遅れがち | prone to running late |
| 病気 (noun) | 病気がち | sickly, often ill |
| 曇り (noun) | 曇りがち | mostly cloudy |
| 遠慮 (noun) | 遠慮がち | reserved, hesitant |
最近、仕事を休みがちだ。体調が悪いのかもしれない。
saikin, shigoto o yasumigachi da. taichō ga warui no kamoshirenai
Lately I've been taking a lot of days off work — maybe I'm run down.
空が曇りがちで、今にも雨が降りそうだ。
sora ga kumorigachi de, ima ni mo ame ga furisō da
The sky's been mostly cloudy; it looks like it could rain any minute.
忙しいと、つい食事を抜きがちになる。
isogashii to, tsui shokuji o nukigachi ni naru
When I'm busy, I tend to end up skipping meals.
Because 〜がち leans negative, native speakers avoid it for welcome tendencies — you would not say ×うまくいきがち ("tends to go well"). For a neutral or positive "often," use よく or an adverb instead. One frozen exception is ありがち ("common, all too typical"), which is standard even though it describes a bare fact.
〜気味（ぎみ）: a slight touch of a state
〜気味 attaches to a noun or a verb ます-stem, is pronounced ぎみ (with rendaku), and behaves as a na-adjective. It signals a slight degree or the early onset of a condition — you are a little bit in the state, often before it fully arrives.
| Base | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 風邪 (noun) | 風邪気味 | a bit of a cold coming on |
| 疲れ (verb stem) | 疲れ気味 | a little tired, worn |
| 太り (verb stem) | 太り気味 | putting on a bit of weight |
| 遅れ (verb stem) | 遅れ気味 | running a little behind |
| 緊張 (noun) | 緊張気味 | a touch nervous |
ちょっと風邪気味なので、今日は早く帰ります。
chotto kazegimi na node, kyō wa hayaku kaerimasu
I've got a bit of a cold coming on, so I'll head home early today.
最近少し太り気味だから、運動を始めた。
saikin sukoshi futorigimi da kara, undō o hajimeta
I've been putting on a bit of weight lately, so I started exercising.
電車が遅れ気味で、約束の時間に間に合わなかった。
densha ga okuregimi de, yakusoku no jikan ni maniawanakatta
The trains were running a little late, so I didn't make it in time.
The nuance is degree, not frequency. Compare: 休みがち = "absent often" (how many times); 疲れ気味 = "somewhat tired" (how much). 〜気味 is a favourite for hedging about your own condition politely — 風邪気味 softens "I'm getting sick" into "just a touch under the weather."
Telling the three apart
| Suffix | Core meaning | Nuance | Word type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〜っぽい | resembles / has the quality of | surface likeness or disposition; often critical | i-adjective |
| 〜がち | frequently inclines to | high frequency; usually undesirable | na-adjective |
| 〜気味 | a slight touch of | small degree / early onset | na-adjective |
あの子はまだ子供っぽいけど、根はしっかりしている。
ano ko wa mada kodomoppoi kedo, ne wa shikkari shite iru
That kid is still a bit childish, but deep down she's got her head on straight.
Common Mistakes
1. Using 〜らしい where the meaning is critical. らしい praises; for "immature / childish," you need っぽい.
❌ 彼の考え方は子供らしくて困る。
kare no kangaekata wa kodomorashikute komaru
Wrong — らしい is positive ('childlike'); for 'childish' use 子供っぽい.
✅ 彼の考え方は子供っぽくて困る。
kare no kangaekata wa kodomoppokute komaru
His way of thinking is childish, and it's a problem.
2. Using 〜がち for a welcome tendency. がち leans negative; for a good "often," use よく.
❌ 彼女はテストでいい点を取りがちだ。
kanojo wa tesuto de ii ten o torigachi da
Odd — がち implies an unwanted tendency; use よく for a positive one.
✅ 彼女はテストでよくいい点を取る。
kanojo wa tesuto de yoku ii ten o toru
She often gets good marks on tests.
3. Conjugating 〜っぽい like a na-adjective. It is an i-adjective — no な, no でした.
❌ 昔は子供っぽいでした。
mukashi wa kodomoppoi deshita
Wrong — i-adjective past is 子供っぽかった (です).
✅ 昔は子供っぽかったです。
mukashi wa kodomoppokatta desu
I was childish back then.
4. Attaching がち / 気味 to the dictionary form. Use the ます-stem, not the plain verb.
❌ 最近、学校を休むがちだ。
saikin, gakkō o yasumugachi da
Wrong — use the ます-stem: 休みがち.
✅ 最近、学校を休みがちだ。
saikin, gakkō o yasumigachi da
Lately I've been missing school a lot.
Key Takeaways
- 〜っぽい = "-ish, has the quality of" (i-adjective): 子供っぽい, 忘れっぽい, 水っぽい — surface resemblance or disposition, often faintly critical.
- 〜がち = "prone to, tends to" (na-adjective, verb ます-stem or noun): 忘れがち, 休みがち — frequent and usually undesirable.
- 〜気味 = "a slight touch of" (na-adjective, read ぎみ): 風邪気味, 疲れ気味 — small degree or early onset.
- The key contrast: らしい praises the true essence, っぽい notes a surface likeness; がち counts frequency, 気味 measures degree.
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- 〜げ and たる-AdjectivesN2 — Two register-marked adjective forms descended from older grammar — 〜げ ('seeming, giving an air of', 悲しげ, 得意げ, ありげ) and the classical たる-adjectives (堂々たる, 確固たる) that take たる before a noun and と adverbially.
- 〜らしい: Inference and TypicalityN3 — How 〜らしい unifies two meanings English keeps apart — the evidential 'apparently / it seems' from reliable secondhand information, and 'typical of / -like' (男らしい, 春らしい) — under the single idea of conforming to the expected picture of X.
- 〜そう: Looks LikeN4 — The appearance 〜そう ('looks / seems …') built from an adjective stem or verb stem — おいしそう, 忙しそう, 降りそう — including the two irregulars よさそう and なさそう, and why keeping the い accidentally turns it into hearsay.
- Adverbial Form: 〜く / 〜にN4 — Turning adjectives into adverbs — i-adjectives change 〜い to 〜く (早く走る), na-adjectives add 〜に (静かに歩く) — the same stem that also feeds なる 'become' and する 'make', plus the よく polysemy.
- 〜っぽい: '-ish / -like'N3 — The colloquial suffix 〜っぽい — 'has an X quality, -ish, tends to' (子供っぽい, 忘れっぽい, 水っぽい) — and its spreading modern use as a casual evidential 'seems like' on whole clauses (雨降ってるっぽい), contrasted with befitting 〜らしい and comparative 〜みたい.