ぶる / ぶって / ぶった

The suffix ぶる is attached to nouns, adjectives, and certain other words to express that someone is putting on airs, pretending to be, or acting as if they possess a certain quality – often when they don't truly have it, or are exaggerating it. It carries a negative or critical nuance, suggesting that the behavior is affected, insincere, or annoying.

Since ぶる functions as a Godan (う-verb), it conjugates like any regular う-verb:

• ぶる – dictionary / non-past form
• ぶって – te-form (used adverbially or in connected clauses)
• ぶった – past / attributive form (used before nouns)
• ぶらない – negative form
• ぶります – polite form

Common patterns

With nouns

Attach ぶる directly to a noun to mean "act like ~" or "put on the airs of ~."

With い-adjectives

Drop the final い and attach ぶる.

With な-adjectives

Attach ぶる directly to the adjective stem (without な).

Fixed expressions

Some words formed with ぶる have become common standalone expressions:

• おとな大人ぶる – to act grown-up / mature (when one isn't)
• いいこいい子ぶる – to act like a good kid / goody-two-shoes
• つよがる強がる is a related expression using がる, but ぶる emphasizes pretense and affectation more than がる, which focuses on outward signs of feeling something.

Nuance

ぶる almost always implies that the speaker views the behavior as fake, showy, or irritating. It is rarely used about oneself unless self-deprecatingly. Compare with ふりをする ("to pretend"), which is more neutral – ぶる is more judgmental and idiomatic.