Languages › Japanese Meaning of the Japanese Word Kanari Print Petri Artturi Asikainen/Getty Images Japanese Essential Japanese Vocabulary History & Culture Japanese Grammar By Namiko Abe Namiko Abe Japanese Language Expert B.A., Kwansei Gakuin University Namiko Abe is a Japanese language teacher and translator, as well as a Japanese calligraphy expert. She has been a freelance writer for nearly 20 years. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on February 24, 2019 The Japanese word kanari—pronounced precisely as the phonetic spelling indicates—is translated in a number of ways depending on context. It can mean "pretty", "fairy", or "quite/rather". The sentence in which the word appears will indicate how the word should be used. Japanese Characters Read More How to Use the Japanese Word Kurai By Namiko Abe かなり Example Kesa wa kanari samukatta node, mafuraa o shite dekaketa今朝はかなり寒かったので、マフラーをして出かけた。 Translation: Since it was quite cold this morning, I went out wearing a scarf. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Abe, Namiko. "Meaning of the Japanese Word Kanari." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/kanari-meaning-and-characters-2028722. Abe, Namiko. (2023, April 5). Meaning of the Japanese Word Kanari. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/kanari-meaning-and-characters-2028722 Abe, Namiko. "Meaning of the Japanese Word Kanari." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/kanari-meaning-and-characters-2028722 (accessed April 18, 2024). copy citation