かっこ悪い, Kakkowarui - Meaning in Japanese

kakkowarui かっこ悪い means "lame." It's used when someone, something they wear, or something they do, is "uncool," or "un-stylish," "or un-fashioable", or leaves a bad impression in general.

Variants include kakko-warui カッコ悪い, kakko-warii かっこkakkou-warui 格好悪い.

Usage

Literally, kakkowarui かっこ悪い is the word i-adjective

The way kakkowarui is used, however, is to refer to things that give a "bad impression," because they're lame, or toward people that look very bad in a certain moment, because they just did something lame.

• kakkowarui! かっこ悪い！
  [It's] lame!
  [You look] lame!
  [You look] uncool!
  [You look] pathetic!

Anyway, the point is that kakkowarui stuff makes people think less of you, in a sense, because you're lame, or because you just lost face. So normally you don't want to be kakkowarui.

You want to be kakkoii かっこいい, the antonym of kakkowarui.

Sometimes, kakkowarui is used to say you should refrain from doing something because it looks lame. Because cool kids don't do that.

• ijime wa kakkowarui
  いじめはカッコ悪い
  Bullying is lame.
• Cool kids don't bully others.

Note that kakkowarui can be translated as "looks lame," but it's not a verb, it's an adjective: "bad-looking."

• kakkowarui hito かっこ悪い人
  Bad-looking person.
  Lame person.
• This isn't a person who's "lame" in the sense they're old and say lame things that spoil the youths' fun, like "don't play with a ball indoors," etc.
• It's used toward a person who looks lame, because of their appearance, or because they just did something that gave others a bad impression of them.
• You don't want to be next to this person, people will think you're kakkowarui too.
• kakkowarui fuku かっこ悪い服
  Bad-looking clothes.
  Lame clothes.
• You have no sense for clothes or fashion.
• You don't want to wear these clothes, they're kakkowarui.
• kakkowarui kuruma かっこ悪い車
  Bad-looking car.
  Lame car.
• You have no sense for cars.

Since warui is an i-adjective, kakkowarui is inflected as such:

• kakkowarukatta
  かっこ悪かった
  Was lame.
• That was lame.
• Jesus, that was so lame.
• ore wa kakkowarukatta
  俺はかっこ悪かった
  I was lame.
• Sorry, I did something that gave you a very bad impression of me.
• Normally I'm cooler than that.
• kakko warukunai!
  かっこ悪くない！
  [It] isn't lame!
  [You] aren't lame!
• You're cool!
• I don't think less of you because of that.
• Example: a guy fought a thief to protect a girl and lost. He thinks he's kakkowarui for losing and she'll think less of him. She says he's not kakkowarui, because she wouldn't think less of him for fighting to protect her, that's kakkoii, even if he lost.
• kakkowarukutemoii!
  かっこ悪くてもいい！
  It's alright even if you're lame!
• I'll accept you regardless!
• Abbreviation of kakkou, kakko, plus warui, conjugated to te-form, kute, plus mo particle, plus auxiliary adjective ii.
• -temo-ii ～てもいい
  It's alright/okay/fine even if...
• kakkowaruku mieru
  かっこ悪く見える
  To look lame. (literally.)
  To be seen as lame.
• kakkowaruku かっこ悪く
  Adverbial form. Modifies verbs, such as mieru 見える, "to be seen [as lame]," "to appear [lame]."

Note that sometimes other words are used instead of kakkowarui, like:

• dasai ダサい
  Lame.
• Refers to style. Clothes, cars, etc. Not fashionable. Ugly.
• Wearing something dasai makes you look kakkowarui.
• otonagenai 大人気ない
  No air of adult.
• Not behaving like an adult. Behaving like a child. Being immature.
• Being otonagenai makes you look kakkowarui.
• nasakenai 情けない
  Pathetic.
• Unworthy of:
• nasake 情け
  Pity. Sympathy.

Kakkowarui Tokoro かっこ悪い所

In Japanese, kakkowarui tokoro かっこ悪い所 means "a situation in which [you] look lame," or "a side [of you] which is lame." It's sometimes abbreviated as kakkowarui toko かっこ悪いトコ.

Note that tokoro 所 is hard to translate because it's not a normal noun, it's a nominalizer. That is, tokoro doesn't refer to a tangible thing by itself like other nouns do. It's always used after a qualifier or in a context in which you can figure out what sort of tokoro it is. Grammatically, it's similar to koto 事.

To have a better idea, let's see an example:

Manga: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. / Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan 斉木楠雄のΨ難 (Chapter 84)

• Context: Kaidou and Saiki are surrounded by delinquents who want their lunch money. Saiki is an ESPer and can read what Kaidou is thinking. Saiki's own thoughts are in rectangular boxes.
• ora saifu
  doko da yo...?
  オラ財布どこだよ･･･？
  [Come on,] where's [your] wallet...?
• gui'
  グイッ
  *suddenly pulling or pushing.* (mimetic word, see kabekui kabedon for reference.)
• ya... yaba-sugiru ze
  koitsu-ra...
  や･･･ヤバ過ぎるぜコイツ等
  [It's] too [dangerous], these [guys]...
• nande konna koto ni...
  なんでこんな事に･･･
  Why [it turned out] like this...
• konna koto ni naru
  こんな事になる
  To become so [it's] like this thing.
  To become like this. To turn out like this.
• shikamo yori ni yotte Saiki to
  iru toki ni...
  しかもよりによって斉木と居る時に･･･
  [And worst of all just] when [I'm] with Saiki.
• shikamo しかも
  On top of that. Furthermore.
• yori ni yotte よりによって
  Just when. Of all times it could happen, it happened just when...
  In the worst timing, case.
• ku'...
  くっ･･･
  *frustrated noise*
• Saiki sae inakereba...
  sugu ni harau noni!
  斉木さえ居なければ･･･すぐに払うのに！
  If only Saiki wasn't here... [I'd] pay right away!
• noni のに
  Even though. (sometimes used in frustration for not being able to do something, like in this case.)
  Even though [I'd pay if Saiki wasn't here].
• harau-n-kai
  払うんかい
  [You'd] pay?
• This is Saiki's thought, retort.
• daga Saiki no mae de
  kakko-warii tokoro miseru wake niwa
  ikanee...!
  だが斉木の前でカッコ悪ィ所見せる訳にはいかねェ･･･！
  However, in front of Saiki showing a lame spot won't go.
• But I mustn't let Saiki see a lame side of me.
• But I can't look lame in front of Saiki.
• But I can't let Saiki have a bad impression me.
• But I can't let Saiki think I'm lame.
• wake niwa ikanai 訳にはいかない
  Means a choice "won't go," "won't do." Can't be chosen. Is unthinkable. You can't allow yourself to do it. (e.g. to look lame in front of Saiki.)
• yatte yaru ze!!
  やってやるぜ！！
  [I'm gonna do it]!!
• This is the normal verb yaru, plus the auxiliary verb yaru.
• It's basically shite-ageru してあげる, except it's used in a completely different way.
• mo... mottenee yo!!
  も･･･持ってねェよ！！
  [I] d... don't have it!!
• He's talking about the wallet, in case you lost track.
• omae no kakkowarui tokoro wa minukiteru zo
  お前のカッコ悪い所は見抜きてるぞ
  [I've] seen through your lame side.
• Saiki is thinking Kaidou trying to look cool, or rather, not lame, is futile, because he can read thoughts and has already seen through Kaidou's farce.

References

In Japanese,かっこ悪い means "lame." It's used when someone, something they wear, or something they do, is "uncool," or "un-stylish," "or un-fashioable", or leaves a bad impression in general.Variants includeカッコ悪い,かっこ ワリぃ , and格好悪い.Literally,かっこ悪い is the word kakko カッコ , an abbreviation of kakkou 格好 , "appearance," plus the-adjective warui 悪い , "bad." So it means "bad-appearance," or "bad-looking."The wayis used, however, is to refer to things that give a "bad impression," because they're lame, or toward people that look very bad in a certain moment, because they just did something lame.Anyway, the point is thatstuff makes people think less of you, in a sense, because you're lame, or because you just lost face. So normally you don't want to beYou want to beかっこいい, the antonym ofSometimes,is used to say you should refrain from doing something because it looks lame. Because cool kids don't do that.Note thatcan be translated as "looks lame," but it's not a verb, it's an adjective: "bad-looking."Sinceis an i-adjective,is inflected as such:Note that sometimes other words are used instead of, like:In Japanese,かっこ悪い所 means "a situation in which [you] look lame," or "a side [of you] which is lame." It's sometimes abbreviated asかっこ悪いトコ.Note that所 is hard to translate because it's not a normal noun, it's a. That is,doesn't refer to a tangible thing by itself like other nouns do. It's always used after a qualifier or in a context in which you can figure out what sort ofit is. Grammatically, it's similar to事.To have a better idea, let's see an example: