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Formation: い-adj stem + げ (寂しい→寂しげ); な-adj stem + げ (不安げ); a few fixed forms (言いたげ, 意味ありげ, 自信なげ); conjugates like a な-adjective: げな + N, げに, げだ

Describes how someone looks from the outside, mostly feelings and inner states such as 寂しげ, 不安げ, 得意げ and 満足げ. It is used about other people, not about the speaker's own feelings. Compared with 〜そうだ, げ sounds more literary and descriptive, and you will often find it in novels, essays and reports. It does not work with taste or physical qualities: you say おいしそう, not おいしげ. Casual speech has forms like よさげ and 自信なさげ, but these are colloquial. Compare 〜めく (N1), which means something shows signs of a season or quality (春めく). 〜げ is about the look on a person's face or in their manner.

Variants: げな、げに、げだ、言いたげ、意味ありげ、自信なげ

Examples

• 少年は得意げに賞状を見せた。
  The boy proudly showed off his certificate.
• 彼女は何か言いたげな顔でこちらを見ていた。
  She was looking at me as if she wanted to say something.
• 公園のベンチに寂しげな老人が座っていた。
  A lonely-looking old man was sitting on a park bench.

In real texts 0 occurrence(s)

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