気味（ぎみ） (gimi)
～気味 — a touch of ～
Pattern
-
Vます形（ます抜き）＋気味Verb stem + 気味 -
N＋気味Noun + 気味
Connection
Attach it to a verb stem or noun: 風邪気味, 疲れ気味, 焦り気味, 遅れ気味. Forms: ～気味だ and ～気味の＋noun.
When to use
Handy for mild physical conditions or the slightly off state of a thing, as in 'I feel a bit like it.' It does not mean the condition is fully present. Compared with ～がち, it more often describes a temporary state.
Examples
-
少（すこ）し風邪（かぜ）気味（ぎみ）です。
Sukoshi kazegimi desu.
I feel a bit like I'm catching a cold.
-
最近（さいきん）疲（つか）れ気味（ぎみ）で、朝（あさ）起（お）きるのがつらい。
Saikin tsukaregimi de, asa okiru no ga tsurai.
I've been a bit tired lately, and getting up in the morning is hard.
-
この時計（とけい）は少（すこ）し遅（おく）れ気味（ぎみ）だ。
Kono tokei wa sukoshi okuregimi da.
This clock is running slightly slow.
Common mistakes
- It is rarely used for good things. You cannot say 元気気味.
- 風邪気味 means a hint of a cold coming on, not a definite cold.
More grammar points
- 上（あ）げる ～上げる — to finish ～ completely
- 合（あ）う ～合う — do ～ to each other; to fit, to suit
- だらけ ～だらけ — covered in ～, full of ～ (something bad)
- がち ～がち — tends to ～ (usually undesirable)
- がたい ～がたい — hard to ～
- かける ～かける — half-done, in the middle of ～
- 切（き）れない ～切れない — cannot finish, cannot fully ～
- 切（き）る ～切る — do ～ completely, to the end
- 込（こ）む ～込む — into, crowded, deeply ～
- 向（む）け ～向け — intended for ～, aimed at ～
- 向（む）き ～向き — suited to ～, facing ～
- 直（なお）す ～直す — do ～ over again
- っぱなし ～っぱなし — leaving ～ as it is
- っぽい ～っぽい — ～-ish / tends to be ～
- たて ～たて — “freshly ～ed / just done”
- 的（てき） ～的 — “-like / -al” (makes an adjective)
- 通（とお）す ～通す — “do ～ all the way through”
- あまり あまりの～に — so ～ that ～
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