あいつ

あ

い

つ

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

Meanings

1

pronoun

he; she; that guy

derogatoryfamiliar languageusually written using kana alone

Derogatory or very familiar third-person pronoun for a person the speaker looks down on or is close to. Rough and masculine-leaning; not used in polite contexts.

あいつはいつも遅ち刻こくするんだよ。

That guy is always late.

あいつに任まかせたら失しっ敗ぱいするに決きまってる。

If you leave it to him, he'll definitely mess up.

2

pronoun

that; that one; that thing

familiar languageusually written using kana alone

Familiar and somewhat rough way to refer to an object or animal, similar to 'that thing' or 'that one'. Often implies the speaker doesn't hold the referent in high regard.

あいつ、もう動うごかなくなっちゃった。
That thing stopped working.
あいつはどこに置おいたっけ？
Where did I put that thing?

Written forms

あいつUsage93%
Standard kana spelling; the word is usually written in kana.
アイツUsage5%
彼奴あいつUsage2%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; learners should recognize it but use the kana spelling.

Kanji

彼he, that, the
奴guy, slave, manservant

Similar words

彼かれ
Standard 'he'; neutral and polite. あいつ is much rougher and more familiar.
彼かの女じょ
Standard 'she'; neutral. あいつ can refer to women but is derogatory or very casual.
こいつ
'This guy/thing'; similar register but proximal. あいつ is distal.
そいつ
'That guy/thing' (near listener); similar register. あいつ is more distant from both speaker and listener.

Etymology

Derived from あの (that) + やつ (guy/thing). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it is a contraction commonly used in informal speech.