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Word 1087 of 4449

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世間体

せけんてい

appearances, reputation

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 世間体を気にしすぎる。

    せけんていをきにしすぎる。

    He worries too much about appearances.

  2. 世間体が悪いから、親には言えない。

    せけんていがわるいから、おやにはいえない。

    It would look bad, so I can't tell my parents.

  3. 世間体ばかり取り繕っても仕方がないだろう。

    せけんていばかりとりつくろってもしかたがないだろう。

    There's no point in just keeping up appearances, is there?

Common patterns

世間体を気にする
to care about how it looks to others
世間体が悪い
it looks bad to the world
世間体を保つ
to keep up appearances

Memory tip

体 here is 'outward form', read てい. 見栄 is showing off to look better than you are; 世間体 is the fear of looking bad to the neighbours, so it pairs with 気にする and 悪い.

Kanji in this word

Quick check

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What does 世間体 mean?