The Meaning of nakayoshi [仲良し] In Japanese

仲良し
なかよし
Romaji: nakayoshi N5

What does 仲良し mean?

Translation and Meaning

good friends, close friends, friendship, being on good terms

Definition

仲良し means close friends or people who are on good terms with each other. It describes a warm, harmonious social bond between individuals, such as classmates, colleagues, or family members, where trust and mutual friendliness are evident.

Type

noun (名詞)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • Close friendship or a pair or group that gets along well.
  • State or quality of being on good terms with someone.
  • Used to describe social bonds among peers, not inherently romantic or familial.

Etymology

仲良し is formed from 仲 meaning relationship and 良 meaning good, with the nominalizing suffix し to express a state or quality.

Composition

  • 仲 = relationship, being between people
  • 良 = good
  • し = nominalizing suffix turning the phrase into a noun indicating a state of being on good terms

Usage

Used as a noun to denote a close relationship and can appear in both spoken and written Japanese. In casual speech it’s common to describe schoolmates and friends as 仲良し, while in more formal contexts you may use alternatives like 仲がいい or 仲の良い関係 to adjust tone.
💡 Tips
Mnemonic: two friends with a bridge of goodwill between them helps you remember nakayoshi as the state of being on good terms; the left radical in 仲 represents a person, symbolizing a person inside a social bond between others.

Variations

  • 親しい友人関係 (shitashii yuujin kankei) — close friendship
  • 親友関係 (shinyuu kankei) — best-friend relationship
  • Antonym: 疎遠 (soen) — estranged relations
  • Regional variation: no major dialectal variation; standard across Japan

Example Phrases

  • 放課後、仲良しの友達と一緒に映画を見に行く。
    Hōkago, nakayoshi no tomodachi to issho ni eiga o mi ni iku.
    After school, I go with a close friend to see a movie.
    Lista:
    • 放課後 (Hōkago) – after school
    • 仲良し (nakayoshi) – close
    • の (no) – of
    • 友達 (tomodachi) – friend
    • と (to) – with
    • 一緒に (issho ni) – together
    • 映画 (eiga) – movie
    • を (o) – (object marker)
    • 見に行く (mi ni iku) – go to see
    Uses 「仲良し」 as a noun meaning ‘close friend’, linked to 「友達」 by 「の」 to form the compound meaning ‘a close friend’. Also uses 「一緒に」 to indicate doing something together and 「見に行く」 to express ‘go to see’.
仲良し