美人 vs かわいい

[100PercentWeasel]

Hi,

i've heard theres somewhat of a difference in meaning in these two words. Namely, that you don't call young girls 美人 because it has the nuance of being a 'mature' (milf) type of beauty. Is this true?

[Dustin]

Hi,

i've heard theres somewhat of a difference in meaning in these two words. Namely, that you don't call young girls 美人 because it has the nuance of being a 'mature' (milf) type of beauty. Is this true?

The difference is that 美人 refers to a beautiful woman, this implies someone who is fully grown.

かわいい is simply cute, and has a strong implication of it being something or someone young/small.

[becki_kanou]

Well for one thing 美人 is a noun and かわいい is an adjective. 美人 means beautiful woman and かわいい means cute or pretty.

You're right that 美人 is only used for adult women, but かわいい can be used for just about anyone or anything. We might say "What a beautiful/pretty baby!" in English, but in Japanese a baby is かわいい rather that 美しい (beautiful) or 綺麗 (pretty).

HTH

[Dustin]

Well for one thing 美人 is a noun and かわいい is an adjective. 美人 means beautiful woman and かわいい means cute or pretty.


HTH

I overlooked that and only paid attention to the 美　side of it ^_^

Thanks for clarifying what I forgot to mention.

[Hektor6766]

There is 美少女.