The Meaning of yokubukai [欲深い] In Japanese

欲深い
よくぶかい
Romaji: yokubukai N3

What does 欲深い mean?

Translation and Meaning

greedy, insatiable, covetous

Definition

What does 欲深い mean? It denotes a person whose desires are deeply rooted and insatiable, indicating a strong, often negative, craving for wealth, status, or pleasures.

Type

adjective (形容詞, イ形容詞)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • Greedy or insatiable in pursuing desires
  • Figuratively used for ambitions or appetites beyond needs
  • Conveys a moral judgment about a person’s character

Composition

  • 欲 — desire, craving; on-yomi yoku; root meaning
  • 深 — deep; relates to depth or extent of desire; used in the compound as depth of craving
  • い — adjective ending that forms an i-adjective

Usage

Used in formal, literary, or critical contexts to describe someone with excessive desires; typically conveys a negative appraisal and is more common in writing than casual speech; can appear in statements like 欲深い人は注意が必要だ.
💡 Tips
Mnemonic: remember 欲深い as desire (yoku) that runs deep (fukai); visualize a well labeled ‘desire’ growing deeper the more it is fed, so the greed becomes yokubukai.

Variations

  • 貪欲な (どんよくな, donyoku na) — greedy
  • 強欲な (ごうよくな, gouyoku na) — avaricious
  • 欲張り (よくばり, yokubari) — greedy person
  • 無欲 (むよく, muyoku) — lack of desire, ungreedy

Example Phrases

  • 同僚は欲深いので、ボーナスの話をしつこく求める。
    Dōryō wa yokubukai node, bōnasu no hanashi o shitsukoku motomeru.
    A coworker is greedy, so they persistently push for a talk about the bonus.
    Lista:
    • 同僚 (Dōryō) – coworker
    • は (wa) – topic marker
    • 欲深い (yokubukai) – greedy
    • ので (node) – because; so
    • ボーナス (bōnasu) – bonus
    • の (no) – possessive
    • 話を (hanashi o) – talk
    • しつこく (shitsukoku) – persistently
    • 求める (motomeru) – to seek
    Core point: 「欲深い」 is an i-adjective meaning ‘greedy’; here it describes a person and links with ので to explain the reason.
欲深い