JLPT N2 · な-adjective

卑怯 (hikyou)

卑怯 (ひきょう, hikyou) is a Japanese な-adjective meaning “cowardly; craven”. It appears in JLPT N2 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: ひきょう
Romaji: hikyou
Word class: な-adjective
Level: JLPT N2 (unofficial)

Meaning

cowardly; craven · な-adjective, noun
unfair; mean; sneaky; dirty; dastardly · な-adjective, noun

Example sentences

そんなふうに言うなんて卑怯だ。

It's mean of you to talk that way.

Tatoeba #204204

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

Conjugation of 卑怯

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

Form	Japanese	Reading
Present (plain)	卑怯だ	ひきょうだ hikyouda
Present (polite)	卑怯です	ひきょうです hikyoudesu
Negative	卑怯じゃない	ひきょうじゃない hikyoujanai
Past	卑怯だった	ひきょうだった hikyoudatta
Negative past	卑怯じゃなかった	ひきょうじゃなかった hikyoujanakatta
Te-form	卑怯で	ひきょうで hikyoude
Before a noun	卑怯な	ひきょうな hikyouna
Adverb (~ni)	卑怯に	ひきょうに hikyouni

Kanji in 卑怯

卑

lowly, base, vileヒ・いや.しい・いや.しむ · 9 strokes

怯

cowardice, wince, flinchキョウ・コウ・ひる.む・おびえ.る · 8 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 卑怯.

卑しいいやしいlowborn怯えるおびえるto become frightened

Source: JMdict entry 1482710 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.