がり(屋) — Prone to feeling / Overly sensitive to (suffix)
A suffix added to the stem of certain sensation adjectives to describe a person who readily or unusually feels that state, physiologically or emotionally.
Structure
[い-adj stem (がる form)] + がり(屋)
Examples
彼は寒がりだから、冬が大変そうだ。
Kare wa samugari dakara, fuyu ga taihen sō da.
He gets cold easily, so winter must be tough for him.
寒い → 寒がり (a person who feels the cold easily)
私は怖がりで、ホラー映画が見られない。
Watashi wa kowagari de, horā eiga ga mirarenai.
I scare easily and can't watch horror movies.
怖い → 怖がり (easily frightened person)
暑がりの人は夏が好きじゃない。
Atsugari no hito wa natsu ga suki ja nai.
People who feel the heat easily don't like summer.
暑い → 暑がり
• Common がり types: 寒がり (feels cold easily), 暑がり (feels heat easily), 怖がり (easily scared), 恥ずかしがり (shy/easily embarrassed), 痛がり (sensitive to pain), 寂しがり (gets lonely easily). • Adding 屋 (ya): 寒がり屋 = a person who is always feeling cold (habitual trait).
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones がり(屋) is tested against.
vs 〜がる (shows signs of feeling)
The verb 〜がる (寒がる, 怖がる) describes someone displaying a feeling in the moment or habitually ('he acts cold'). The noun 〜がり(屋) labels the person as the TYPE who readily feels it.
vs 〜っぽい (-ish, tends to be)
〜っぽい adds a loose 'has a tendency toward' nuance to many words (怒りっぽい = quick to anger). がり is restricted to sensation adjectives and marks a personal constitution.
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