JLPT N3 · な-adjective

微妙 (bimyou)

微妙 (びみょう, bimyou) is a Japanese な-adjective meaning “subtle; delicate”. It appears in JLPT N3 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: びみょう
Romaji: bimyou
Word class: な-adjective
Level: JLPT N3 (unofficial)

Meaning

subtle; delicate; fine · な-adjective, noun
difficult; complex; tricky; delicate (situation, position, etc.); close (e.g. decision) · な-adjective, noun
doubtful; questionable; dicey · な-adjective, noun
not great; iffy · な-adjective, noun · colloquial · oft. ビミョー
slightly; somewhat; a little bit · な-adjective, noun · adverbially as ～に

Example sentences

その２つの絵には微妙な違いがある。

There are subtle differences between the two pictures.

Tatoeba #213456

その顧客の苦情は微妙な問題に関わるものだった。

The customer's complaint was about a sensitive issue.

Tatoeba #210842

トムが次のオリンピックに出場できるかどうかは微妙だ。

There are doubts as to whether or not Tom will be able to participate in the next Olympics.

Tatoeba #7169806

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Conjugation of 微妙

な-adjective. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

Form	Japanese	Reading
Present (plain)	微妙だ	びみょうだ bimyouda
Present (polite)	微妙です	びみょうです bimyoudesu
Negative	微妙じゃない	びみょうじゃない bimyoujanai
Past	微妙だった	びみょうだった bimyoudatta
Negative past	微妙じゃなかった	びみょうじゃなかった bimyoujanakatta
Te-form	微妙で	びみょうで bimyoude
Before a noun	微妙な	びみょうな bimyouna
Adverb (~ni)	微妙に	びみょうに bimyouni

Kanji in 微妙

微

delicate, minuteness, insignificanceビ・かす.か · 13 strokes

妙

exquisite, strange, queerミョウ・ビョウ・たえ · 7 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 微妙.

微笑むほほえむto smile顕微鏡けんびきょうmicroscope微かかすかfaint微量びりょうminuscule amount微塵みじんparticle微笑びしょうsmile妙みょうstrange奇妙きみょうstrange巧妙こうみょうingenious

Source: JMdict entry 1486170 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.