The Meaning of yakkai [厄介] In Japanese

厄介
やっかい
Romaji: yakkai N4

What does 厄介 mean?

Translation and Meaning

troublesome, burdensome, nuisance

Definition

厄介 means troublesome or burdensome; something or someone that causes problems or extra effort and is unwelcome to deal with.

Type

na-adjective (形容動詞)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • nuisance or burden that complicates a plan
  • a person or thing that requires extra care or effort
  • a tricky or awkward problem that is hard to solve

Etymology

From 厄 misfortune and 介 interpose, the compound formed in classical Japanese; the pronunciation merged into the modern yakkai as a single word.

Composition

  • 厄: misfortune, calamity
  • 介: interpose, intervene
  • Together: a burden or problem that interposes itself between you and a goal; something troublesome that demands extra effort

Usage

Used as a na-adjective to describe people, tasks, or situations that create trouble or require extra effort; more common in casual and semi-formal contexts, often paired with 厄介だ/厄介な before a noun; examples in Japanese: 厄介な問題 (yakkaina mondai), 厄介な手続き (yakkaina tetsuzuki).
💡 Tips
Mnemonic: imagine a heavy misfortune box (厄) sitting between you and progress, with 介 acting as a mediator keeping the box in place; the word sounds like ya-kka-i, reminding you of a compact bundle of trouble.

Variations

  • 迷惑な (meiwaku na) – nuisance
  • 面倒な (mendou na) – bothersome, tedious
  • 手間がかかる (tema ga kakaru) – time-consuming
  • 楽な (raku na) – easy, not troublesome

Example Phrases

  • 今日は 厄介 な 事 が 起きた。
    Kyou wa yakkai na koto ga okita.
    Today, a troublesome thing happened.
    Lista:
    • 今日は (kyou wa) – today
    • 厄介 (yakkai) – troublesome
    • な (na) – (adjective suffix)
    • 事 (koto) – thing
    • が (ga) – (subject marker)
    • 起きた (okita) – happened
    厄介 is a na-adjective; here it appears as 「厄介な」 to modify 事, meaning ‘troublesome’.
厄介