Most Popular Ways To Use しつこい and くどい
When hearing しつこい, do you have a positive image? or a negative image? What about くどい? It is a little bit complicated words each other. Even they are quite similar however they are quite different for natives. Today, let me introduce how natives use しつこい and くどい correctly.
しつこい (shitsukoi)
Persistent
Unlike くどい, しつこい can be used as both a positive and a negative meaning. しつこい is basically used for people’s acts such as しつこく話す(persistently talk), しつこくつきまとう(persistently tag along), しつこい性格(persistent personalities) and etc. By sentences, you have to read their facial expressions and atmosphere for figuring the way to use しつこい as a positive or a negative meaning. However, しつこい has been basically used as a negative meaning.




Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced

くどい (kudoi)
Persistent / Pushy / Wordy / Heavy / Long‐winded
くどい is close to しつこい. And しつこい can be used as both a positive and a negative meaning, however, くどい can be mainly used as a negative meaning. So, that’s why くどい is a much stronger meaning of しつこい. The meaning of くどい has persistent and pushy. Additionally, くどい is often used with the words 味, 話, 人, 色 and so on. Such as くどい味(heavy taste), くどい話(long‐winded story), くどい文章(wordy sentence), くどい人(pushy person) and etc.



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