賢い
kashikoi
The Japanese word for wise is 賢い (kashikoi).
賢い is used to describe someone showing good judgement. While it translates to wise, it is also frequently used to mean smart or clever in a cognitive sense, such as describing a smart student or a clever animal.
Meaning: showing good judgement (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
賢い is an i-adjective, which means you can directly modify a noun by placing the word before the noun.
How do you pronounce it?
kashikoi
Did you know?
- While 賢い can mean 'clever', using it to describe a person's political or social decisions can sometimes sound slightly patronizing, as if you are praising a child for being 'good' or 'smart'.
- While 賢い describes wisdom, the Japanese word for 'wise' in a spiritual or profound sense is often 悟った, which literally means 'to have attained enlightenment'.
- In modern Japanese, 賢い is frequently used to describe a 'smart' consumer or 'wise' purchase, describing someone who gets a great deal for a low price.
Examples in context
- 彼女はとても賢い人だ。She is very wise.Tatoeba #91943 by bunbuku, translation #311769 by CK
- 昔、その国に賢い王様が住んでいた。In that country there once lived a wise king.Tatoeba #142457 by bunbuku, translation #272113 by al_ex_an_der
- ザメンホフはとても賢い人だったね。Zamenhof was a very wise man.Tatoeba #9582787 by small_snow, translation #9577558 by DJ_Saidez
- 彼は非常に賢明です。He is very wise.
- 彼女はとても賢いですね。She is very wise, isn't she?
- 彼は非常に賢明なアドバイスをくれました。He gave me very wise advice.
- 彼女は本当に賢いね!She is really wise!
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Yota and Yui are discussing a decision about their future studies.
- 陽太 Yota今のうちに準備するのは賢い選択だと思うよ。Ima no uchi ni junbi suru no wa kashikoi sentaku da to omou yo.I think preparing now is a wise choice.
- 結衣 Yuiそうだね。陽太はいつも賢いね。Sou da ne. Youta wa itsumo kashikoi ne.You're right. Yota, you're always so wise.
- 陽太 Yotaそんなことないよ。ただ慎重なだけだよ。Sonna koto nai yo. Tada shinchou na dake da yo.That's not true. I'm just being cautious.
- 結衣 Yuiいいことだよ。私ももっと賢い判断をしたいな。Ii koto da yo. Watashi mo motto kashikoi handan o shitai na.That's a good thing. I want to make wiser decisions too.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 賢い, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
