mendoi-apps

What does “mendoi” (めんどい) mean?

The word in this site’s name, checked against Japanese dictionaries and research.

The short answer

めんどい (mendoi) is casual spoken Japanese that means almost the same as 面倒くさい (mendōkusai): something takes effort and you do not feel like doing it — “what a hassle”, “I can’t be bothered”. Today it is used across Japan as a clipped form of mendokusai[S2][S5], but dictionaries also record it in an Edo-period play from 1727[S1], so it is older than it sounds.

Meaning

  • Digital Daijisen: “troublesome; mendōkusai”[S1].
  • Nihon Kokugo Daijiten (selected edition): (1) troublesome, and (2) an old sense, “unsightly, unbecoming”[S1].
  • JMdict: “troublesome; bothersome”, colloquial[S7].

Examples: 「朝ごはん作るの、めんどい。」 “Making breakfast is such a hassle.” It is casual; in work emails Japanese speakers say 手間がかかる (“it takes effort”) instead.

Origin: mendō → mendōkusai → mendoi

  1. 面倒 (mendō) comes from me-dōna, where dōna meant “wasted”: originally “not worth looking at”. The kanji (“face” + “fall”) were chosen for their sound[S4].
  2. 面倒くさい (mendōkusai / mendokusai) means “very troublesome”. The first cited examples are an Edo-period verse collection (1772–1817) for mendokusai and a 1900–01 novel for mendōkusai[S3].
  3. めんどい (mendoi) is an Edo-period adjective made from mendō, cited from a 1727 jōruri play[S1]; in today’s speech it spread as a clipped mendokusai[S2][S5].

Is “mendoi” Kansai dialect?

Partly. An Osaka-dialect dictionary says the adjective form dates from the Edo period and is used in Kinki (Kansai), Shikoku and Chūgoku, and a Kyoto-speech dictionary lists it too[S2]. The same Osaka dictionary says it became established nationwide as youth slang clipped from mendōkusai[S2], and Japanese Wiktionary lists it simply as slang[S5]. So it is neither only Kansai dialect nor only new slang.

Mendoi vs. mendokusai vs. mendōkusai

Same meaning; only the register differs. Digital Daijisen defines mendokusai as “the same as mendōkusai”[S3]. From most to least formal: mendōkusai → mendokusai → mendoi.

How to say it in English

  • It’s a hassle. / What a pain. For a chore.
  • I can’t be bothered. When the motivation is missing.
  • It’s too much trouble. When it is not worth the effort.

Close Japanese alternatives listed by a thesaurus: 煩わしい (tangled, bothersome), 億劫 (too heavy to start), 気が進まない (not in the mood), 手間がかかる (takes effort)[S6].

Why things feel “mendoi”

  • People treat effort as a cost: in an economic-preference study they gave up money to avoid mental effort, and the price rose with difficulty[S9]; given equal rewards, people tend to choose the less demanding option[S10].
  • A meta-analysis of procrastination found task aversiveness and low self-efficacy among its strongest correlates[S8], and procrastination works as quick short-term mood repair[S11].

What helps: decide “when X happens, I will do Y” (implementation intentions, d = 0.65 across 94 tests)[S12], shrink the first step until it no longer feels aversive[S8], and schedule a small action before the mood arrives (behavioral activation)[S13]. If everything feels like too much effort nearly every day for two weeks or more, it can be a sign of depression; please talk to a doctor or someone you trust[S14].

About this site, “Mendoi-chan”

This is a personal site that looks into life’s hassles and “wait, how does this actually work?” questions to make them a little easier. More in About this site; the Japanese version of this page is めんどいとは？.

Sources

  1. [S1] コトバンク「面倒い」（デジタル大辞泉・精選版 日本国語大辞典）: https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%9D%A2%E5%80%92%E3%81%84
  2. [S2] Weblio辞書「めんどい」（京ことば・大阪弁〈全国大阪弁普及協会〉）: https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%82%81%E3%82%93%E3%81%A9%E3%81%84
  3. [S3] コトバンク「面倒臭い」（デジタル大辞泉・精選版 日本国語大辞典）: https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%9D%A2%E5%80%92%E8%87%AD%E3%81%84
  4. [S4] コトバンク「面倒」（デジタル大辞泉 補説・精選版 日本国語大辞典 語誌）: https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%9D%A2%E5%80%92
  5. [S5] ウィクショナリー日本語版「めんどい」: https://ja.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%82%81%E3%82%93%E3%81%A9%E3%81%84
  6. [S6] Weblio類語辞典「めんどくさい」: https://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E3%82%81%E3%82%93%E3%81%A9%E3%81%8F%E3%81%95%E3%81%84
  7. [S7] Jisho.org（JMdict）「面倒い」: https://jisho.org/word/%E9%9D%A2%E5%80%92%E3%81%84
  8. [S8] Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65
  9. [S9] Westbrook, A., Kester, D., & Braver, T. S. (2013). What is the subjective cost of cognitive effort? Load, trait, and aging effects revealed by economic preference. PLoS ONE, 8(7), e68210: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0068210
  10. [S10] Kool, W., McGuire, J. T., Rosen, Z. B., & Botvinick, M. M. (2010). Decision making and the avoidance of cognitive demand. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 139(4), 665–682: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020198
  11. [S11] Sirois, F. M., & Pychyl, T. A. (2013). Procrastination and the priority of short-term mood regulation: Consequences for future self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2), 115–127: https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12011
  12. [S12] Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1
  13. [S13] Cuijpers, P., van Straten, A., & Warmerdam, L. (2007). Behavioral activation treatments of depression: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 27(3), 318–326: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.11.001
  14. [S14] World Health Organization, Depressive disorder (depression) fact sheet: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
  15. [S15] 厚生労働省「まもろうよ こころ」: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/mamorouyokokoro/

Dictionary entries were checked on each site on 7 October 2026.