じれったい

じ

れ

っ

た

い

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

1

i-adjective

irritating; frustrating; impatient-making

usually written using kana alone

Describes a feeling of irritation or impatience when something is slow, unclear, or not going as desired. Often used about situations or other people's actions.

彼かれの話はなしはいつもじれったい。
His way of talking is always frustratingly slow.
結

けっ

果か

が

出で

る

まで

待ま

つ

の

は

じれったい

。

It's irritating to wait for the results.

Written forms

じれったいUsage85%
Usually written in kana; the kanji form 焦れったい is rare.
焦じれったいUsage15%
Kanji spelling is uncommon and may not be recognized by all readers.

Kanji

焦char, hurry, impatient

Similar words

もどかしい
もどかしい also expresses impatience or frustration, but often with a nuance of being unable to act or intervene, while じれったい focuses more on irritation at the slowness or indirectness of a situation.
苛立いらだたしい
苛立たしい is closer to 'irritating' or 'annoying' in a general sense, whereas じれったい specifically involves impatience with a slow or unsatisfactory process.

Etymology

Derived from the verb 焦れる (じれる, 'to get impatient') with the adjective-forming suffix ったい, which adds a sense of 'having the quality of' or 'tending to'.