綺麗事

Japanese

Kanji in this term
綺	麗	事
き Jinmeiyō	れい Grade: S	こと > ごと Grade: 3
on'yomi		kun'yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) きれーごと [kìréégótó] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) きれーごと [kìréégóꜜtò] (Nakadaka – [4])
• IPA^(key): [kʲiɾe̞ːɡo̞to̞]

Noun

綺(き)麗(れい)事(ごと) • (kireigoto) 

1. lip service; promising but empty talk
   • 2006 July 9, Nobuhiro Watsuki, “第(だい)五幕(まく)　「喧(けん)嘩(か)の男(おとこ)」 [Act 5: “Man of Brawls”]”, in るろうに剣(けん)心(しん)　—明(めい)治(じ)剣(けん)客(かく)浪(ろ)漫(まん)譚(たん)— [Rurōni Kenshin —Ballad of a Meiji Swordsroamer—], kanzenban edition, volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, page 133:

     特(とく)に自由(じゆう)だ正義(せいぎ)だ平等(びょうどう)だのと綺麗事(きれいごと)を吐(は)きまくる偽善者野郎(ぎぜんしゃやろう)のイジメはムカついてたまらねえ！

     Toku ni jiyū da seigi da byōdō da no to kireigoto o hakimakuru gizensha yarō no ijime wa mukatsuite tamaranē!

     Spitting out grandiose bullcrap about freedom, justice, equality and whatnot. You hypocritical bullying assholes are getting on my nerves!

   • 2016, “生きていたんだよな”, in あいみょん (lyrics), 生きていたんだよな, performed by あいみょん:

     「今(いま)ある命(いのち)を精一杯生(せいいっぱいい)きなさい」なんて　綺麗事(きれいごと)だな

     “Ima aru inochi o seiippai ikinasai” nante kireigoto da na

     "Do your best to live out your life", that's just fine-sounding talk.

2. skillful completion of a task