14
悪口

Bad-Mouthing


Meaning

Bad-Mouthing, Trash-Talk

Word Type

noun

Explanation

Your bad mouth produces nothing but bad-mouthing and trash-talk. 悪口 often targets someone's character, appearance, or abilities, with the intention of hurting them or damaging their reputation, sometimes to their face, but often behind their back. It gives rise to unfavorable information that can spread through gossip.


Reading

わるぐち

Explanation

The reading is the kun'yomi vocab readings for these two kanji, probably because this word is just two words put together into one (bad + mouth). Use your knowledge of the vocab words 悪い and 口 to learn the reading of this word. Okay, I lied. You should actually do わるぐち instead. わるくち is possible, but the rendaku version is way more common. Sorry to say such bad things before.


Context

Patterns of Use

Common Word Combinations

  • 悪口を言い合う

    to bad-mouth one another

    悪口を言う

    to bad-mouth someone

    悪口を言いふらす

    to spread bad rumors

Context Sentences

あの人、人の悪口ばっかり言うから苦手なんだよね。

I'm not fond of that person because they're always badmouthing others.

それって、悪口じゃなくない?

It's not considered speaking ill of someone, is it?

みんなが私の悪口を言っているのを聞いちゃったんだよね。

I overheard everyone talking behind my back.


Kanji Composition