► 形容詞
偉い [(2)えらい] [coll] [peer] meaning: important rank: 1
☆ それは偉い人達が決めることだ ⇨ That is something important people would decide (☛ Often sarcastic)
偉い [(2)えらい] [coll] [peer] meaning: respect rank: 1
☆ お母さんは注射を我慢した子供を偉いと褒めた ⇨ Mom praised her child who didn’t complain about an injection (☛ Often patronizing)
☆ 彼は偉い学者だそうだ ⇨ I heard he is a respected scholar (☛ Often sarcastic)
偉い [(2)えらい] [coll] [peer] meaning: significant rank: 2
☆ 偉いことになった ⇨ It has become a big problem (☛ Originally a Kansai dialect)
偉い [(2)えらい] [coll] meaning: very rank: 2
☆ 彼は偉く慌てている様子だった ⇨ It looked like he was in a huge hurry
More examples:
- ど偉い事になってしまった ⇨ Things have turned really bad. We’re in big trouble
- 偉いこっちゃ ⇨ Woa, that’s a problem