じみた

じみた is a suffix-like expression that attaches to nouns to mean "looking like ~", "having the air of ~", or "tainted with ~". It conveys that something or someone has taken on a particular quality or appearance, usually with a negative or undesirable connotation. It suggests that the thing in question has become steeped in or colored by that quality.

じみた is the past/attributive form of じみる (a る-verb meaning "to become like ~"), so it functions as a modifier before nouns. The て-form じみて is used adverbially.

Common collocations

じみた most frequently appears with certain nouns:

• しょたい所帯じみた – looking domestic/frumpy; having the worn-out air of a homemaker

  かのじょ彼女はしょたい所帯じみたふくそう服装をしていた。

  She was dressed in a frumpy, housewife-like manner.

• としより年寄りじみた – looking old; acting elderly

  としより年寄りじみたことをゆう言うな。

  Don't say things that make you sound like an old person.

• いなか田舎じみた – looking rustic/provincial

  いなか田舎じみたふんいき雰囲気がただよっている漂っている。

  There's a rustic, provincial atmosphere about it.

• じみ地味じみた – plain-looking; drab (note: this is a different word from じみた itself)
• きちがい気違いじみた – looking crazy/insane
  きちがい気違いじみたこうどう行動にまわり周りはおどろいた驚いた。

  Everyone around was shocked by his crazy behavior.

Nuance

じみた almost always carries a negative, disparaging, or pitying tone. It implies that the quality has seeped into the person or thing in an undesirable way. Compare this with っぽい or らしい, which can be neutral or positive – じみた is distinctly unflattering.

Forms

• Attributive (before a noun): Noun + じみた + Noun

  かれ彼はとしより年寄りじみたはなし話しかた方をする。

  He speaks in an old-man-ish way.

• Adverbial (て-form): Noun + じみて

  さいきん最近、しょたい所帯じみてきた。

  Lately, she's started looking like a worn-out homemaker.

• Predicate: Noun + じみている

  あのひとあの人のふくそう服装はいつもじみ地味じみている。

  That person's clothing always looks drab and plain.