偏食
henshoku[hẽ̞ɰ̃ɕo̞kɯ̟]
The Japanese phrase for being a picky eater is 偏食 (henshoku).
偏食 is used to describe someone who refuses to eat certain foods or has a very limited diet.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of the characters for 'biased/one-sided' (偏) and 'eating' (食).
How do you pronounce it?
henshoku
Did you know?
- The character 偏 (hen) is also used in the word 偏見 (henken), which means 'prejudice' or 'bias', treating a picky appetite as a form of mental bias.
- In Japanese schools, the practice of 給食 (kyūshoku) or school lunches often encourages students to overcome 偏食 by requiring them to eat everything on their tray.
- Unlike English, where 'picky' can refer to many things, Japanese almost always distinguishes between being picky about food and being picky about other things like clothes or work.
Examples in context
- トムは子供の時、偏食だった。Tom was a picky eater when he was a kid.This sentence is useful for showing how to describe someone as a picky eater in the past tense.Tatoeba #8669794 by bunbuku, translation #6716312 by CK
- 彼女は服装に好みがシビアです。She is picky about clothing.
- 彼女は家具にこだわりがあるので、なかなか決められないみたいです。She is picky about furniture, so it seems she can't decide easily.
- 彼は少し偏食だ。Kare wa sukoshi henshoku da.He is a bit picky with food.
- 偏食を直すのは難しい。Henshoku o naosu no wa muzukashii.It is difficult to fix a picky eating habit.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Yota and Yui are talking about their food preferences.
- 陽太 Yota結衣さんは何でも食べられますか？Yui-san wa nandemo taberaremasu ka?Yui, can you eat anything?
- 結衣 Yuiはい。陽太さんは？Hai. Yota-san wa?Yes. How about you, Yota?
- 陽太 Yota実は、僕は偏食なんです。Jitsu wa, boku wa henshoku nan desu.Actually, I'm a picky eater.
- 結衣 Yuiそうなんですね。So nan desu ne.I see.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 偏食, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
