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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "stingy" in Japanese?
ケチ
kechi
In Japanese, "stingy" is ケチ (kechi).
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Pronunciation
Ke-chi, two short syllables, said with a slightly clipped, dismissive tone, matching its judgmental meaning.
Writing and usage
ケチ is written using katakana. It's a adjective, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.
Example sentence
彼はチップを置くのがケチだった。
kareha chippu wo oku noga kechi datta.
He was too stingy to leave a tip.
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How to remember ケチ
Kechi sounds like 'ketchup' without the up — a stingy person won't even share the ketchup packet.
Related words
- ancient 古代 kodai
- modern モダンな modan na
- traditional 伝統的な dentouteki na
- modernized 近代化された kindaika sareta
- humble 謙虚 kenkyo
- arrogant 傲慢だ gouman da
- flexible 柔軟な juunanna
- rigid 硬い katai
- fragile 壊れやすい koware yasui
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about ケチ
How do you pronounce ケチ?
Ke-chi, two short syllables, said with a slightly clipped, dismissive tone, matching its judgmental meaning.
Is ケチ formal or casual?
ケチ is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.
How is ケチ written in Japanese?
ケチ is written using katakana. Romanised, it reads as kechi.
Where can I practice Japanese words for free?
You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"Stingy" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.
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