JAPANESE STUDY SYSTEMKOTOWA 词和
N5 — N1
READING CONTROL
Vocabulary collection7,811
Kanji collection2,383
SOURCE SELECTOR
Grammar collection0526
SILVER ERA · ことばを、少しずつ。
JLPT BANDN5 BEGINNER → N1 ADVANCED

もったいない

N2
mottainai
  1. too good
  2. more than one deserves
  3. wasteful
  4. sacrilegious
  5. unworthy of
い-adjective

Also written 勿体ない

Chinese meanings

可惜;不配

Examples

  • この服ふくはわたしにはもったいない。
    This suit is too good for me.
    这件衣服给我穿太可惜了。
  • トムはあなたにはもったいない。
    Tom is too good for you.
    汤姆配你太可惜了。
Use this entry in code
import { getVocabById } from 'kotowa';
getVocabById('df272e125c'); // もったいない
{
  "id": "df272e125c",
  "word": "もったいない",
  "reading": "もったいない",
  "romaji": "mottainai",
  "meanings": [
    "too good",
    "more than one deserves",
    "wasteful",
    "sacrilegious",
    "unworthy of"
  ],
  "level": "N2",
  "pos": [
    "adj-i"
  ],
  "jmdict_id": 1605250,
  "other_forms": [
    "勿体ない"
  ],
  "examples": [
    {
      "ja": "この服はわたしにはもったいない。",
      "furigana": "この{服|ふく}はわたしにはもったいない。",
      "en": "This suit is too good for me.",
      "tatoeba_id": 219956
    },
    {
      "ja": "トムはあなたにはもったいない。",
      "en": "Tom is too good for you.",
      "tatoeba_id": 8729317
    }
  ],
  "zh": {
    "status": "reviewed",
    "source_hash": "2c0279820090cb77bb29b237a45a30914734828716b50ec48a130be96b173ab6",
    "meanings": [
      "可惜",
      "不配"
    ],
    "examples": [
      {
        "ja": "この服はわたしにはもったいない。",
        "zh": "这件衣服给我穿太可惜了。"
      },
      {
        "ja": "トムはあなたにはもったいない。",
        "zh": "汤姆配你太可惜了。"
      }
    ],
    "references": [
      "upstream vocab/n2/df272e125c",
      "JMdict ent_seq 1605250; checked against downloaded JMdict_e.gz on 2026-10-28",
      "Original Chinese authored and reviewed by Codex; no independent human review"
    ],
    "reviewer": "Codex",
    "review_method": "ai",
    "reviewed_at": "2026-10-28",
    "review_hash": "c85ffceb84e1908dbf6634ce291b81ff410a6abd1d8e5307951d7a4a023dc0e1"
  }
}