Meaning

Primary

Meal

Alternatives

Cooked Rice, Food

Word Type

noun

Explanation

The kanji and the word are exactly the same. That means they share meanings as well. It also refers to cooked rice, because you gotta eat cooked rice with every meal, so it's basically synonymous with "meal" itself.

This word has a slightly gruff feel to it so it's used mostly in informal situations.

Reading

めし
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word is made up of a single kanji, it should use the kun'yomi reading. When learning the kanji, you didn't learn that reading, so here's a mnemonic to help you with this word: You're eating a meal... MMmm, delicious! What are you eating? Well, it's a Mesh (めし) net. Taste the mesh net. It tastes terrible. This is a bad meal. Feel it in your mouth. It's weird and meshy.

Context

Common Word Combinations

  • 飯が食える

    can eat a meal

    飯がまずい

    the meal tastes bad

    飯がうまい

    the meal is delicious

Context Sentences

しまった!飯をたくのをわすれてた。

Oh no. I forgot to cook rice.

コウイチは三度の飯よりトーフグの仕事をするのが好きです。

Koichi would rather work for Tofugu than eat.

あそこの飯は本当に臭かったぜ。二度と塀の中には戻りたくねえな。

Those were some really stinky-smelling meals! I never want to go back to prison.

Kanji Composition