kakkowarui かっこ悪い - Meaning in Japanese

In Japanese, kakkowarui かっこ悪い means "lame." It's used when someone, something they wear, or something they do, is "uncool," or "un-stylish," "or un-fashioable", or leaves a bad impression in general. Variants include kakko-warui カッコ悪い, kakko-warii かっこワリぃ, and kakkou-warui 格好悪い.

Usage

Literally, kakkowarui かっこ悪い is the word kakko カッコ, an abbreviation of kakkou 格好, "appearance," plus the i-adjective warui 悪い, "bad." So it means "bad-appearance," or "bad-looking."

The way kakkowarui is used, however, is to refer to things that give a "bad impression," because they're lame, or toward people that look very bad in a certain moment, because they just did something lame.

kakkowarui!
かっこ悪い！
[It's] lame!
[You look] lame!
[You look] uncool!
[You look] pathetic!

Anyway, the point is that kakkowarui stuff makes people think less of you, in a sense, because you're lame, or because you just lost face. So normally you don't want to be kakkowarui.

You want to be kakkoii かっこいい, the antonym of kakkowarui.

Sometimes, kakkowarui is used to say you should refrain from doing something because it looks lame. Because cool kids don't do that.

ijime wa kakkowarui
いじめはカッコ悪い
Bullying is lame.
- Cool kids don't bully others.

Note that kakkowarui can be translated as "looks lame," but it's not a verb, it's an adjective: "bad-looking."

kakkowarui hito
かっこ悪い人
Bad-looking person.
Lame person.
- This isn't a person who's "lame" in the sense they're old and say lame things that spoil the youths' fun, like "don't play with a ball indoors," etc.
- It's used toward a person who looks lame, because of their appearance, or because they just did something that gave others a bad impression of them.
- You don't want to be next to this person, people will think you're kakkowarui too.
kakkowarui fuku
かっこ悪い服
Bad-looking clothes.
Lame clothes.
- You have no sense for clothes or fashion.
- You don't want to wear these clothes, they're kakkowarui.
kakkowarui kuruma
かっこ悪い車
Bad-looking car.
Lame car.
- You have no sense for cars.

Conjugation

Since warui is an i-adjective, kakkowarui is inflected as such:

kakkowarukatta
かっこ悪かった
Was lame.
- That was lame.
- Jesus, that was so lame.
ore wa kakkowarukatta
俺はかっこ悪かった
I was lame.
- Sorry, I did something that gave you a very bad impression of me.
- Normally I'm cooler than that.
kakko warukunai!
かっこ悪くない！
[It] isn't lame!
[You] aren't lame!
- You're cool!
- I don't think less of you because of that.
- Example: a guy fought a thief to protect a girl and lost. He thinks he's kakkowarui for losing and she'll think less of him. She says he's not kakkowarui, because she wouldn't think less of him for fighting to protect her, that's kakkoii, even if he lost.
kakkowarukute mo ii!
かっこ悪くてもいい！
It's alright even if you're lame!
- I'll accept you regardless!
- Abbreviation of kakkou, kakko, plus warui, conjugated to te-form, kute, plus mo particle, plus auxiliary adjective ii.
- -temo-ii ～てもいい
  It's alright/okay/fine even if...
kakkowaruku mieru
かっこ悪く見える
To look lame. (literally.)
To be seen as lame.
- kakkowaruku
  かっこ悪く
  Adverbial form. Modifies verbs, such as mieru 見える, "to be seen [as lame]," "to appear [lame]."

かっこ悪い所

In Japanese, kakkowarui tokoro かっこ悪い所 means "a situation in which [you] look lame," or "a side [of you] which is lame." It's sometimes abbreviated as kakkowarui toko かっこ悪いトコ.

オラ　財布どこだよ･･･？や･･･ヤバ過ぎるぜコイツ等･･･何でこんな事に･･･しかもよりによって斉木と居る時に･･･くっ･･･斉木さえ居なければ･･･すぐに払うのに！！払うんかいだが斉木の前でカッコ悪ィ所見せる訳にはいかねェ･･･！やってやるぜ！！も･･･もってねェよ！！お前のカッコ悪い所は見飽きてるぞ

Manga: Saiki Kusuo no Psi-Nan, 斉木楠雄のΨ難 (Chapter 84, 海藤のΨ疑心（後編）)

Context: Kaidou Shun 海藤瞬 is attacked by delinquents who want his money.
ora, saifu φ doko da yo...?
オラ　財布どこだよ･･･？
[Come on], where is [your] wallet...?
gui'
グイッ
*poking.*
(mimetic word.)
- See also: agokui 顎クイ.
ya... yaba-sugiru ze, koitsu-ra...
や･･･ヤバ過ぎるぜコイツ等･･･
T... these guys are too dangerous...
(dislocation.)
nande konna koto ni...
何でこんな事に･･･
Why did [it] turn out like this...
(incomplete sentence.)
shikamo yori ni yotte {Saiki to iru} toki ni...
しかもよりによって斉木と居る時に･･･
And just when {[I] am with Saiki}, of all times...
ku'... Saiki sae inakereba... {sugu ni} harau no ni
くっ･･･斉木さえ居なければ･･･すぐに払うのに！！
Kuh... If only Saiki wasn't here... [I]'d pay [it] {immediately}!!
harau-n-kai
払うんかい
[You]'d pay?
daga {Saiki no mae de kakko-warii tokoro φ miseru} wake niwa ikanee...
だが斉木の前でカッコ悪ィ所見せる訳にはいかねェ･･･！
But there's no way {[I] am going to look lame in front of Saiki}.
- {kakko-warui} tokoro wo miseru
  かっこ悪いところを見せる
  To show a spot [that] {looks bad}. (literally.)
  To show yourself looking bad.
  To show a lame side of yourself.
yatte-yaru ze!!
やってやるぜ！！
[I]'m going to do [it]!
- yatte-yaru - literally yaru やる, "to do," plus auxiliary ~te-yaru ～てやる, "[to do] for someone else."
mo... mottenee yo!!
も･･･もってねェよ！！
[I].... [I] don't have [my wallet] with [me]!!
omae no kakko-warui tokoro wa mi-akiteru zo
お前のカッコ悪い所は見飽きてるぞ
I'm [already] tired of seeing you looking lame.
- In the sense of: don't worry about it appearances, I have already seen it.

Synonyms

Note that sometimes other words are used instead of kakkowarui, like:

dasai
ダサい
Lame.
- Refers to style.^{(chiebukuro:「ダサい」と「カッコ悪い」)}
- Not fashionable. Ugly. Clothes, cars, etc.
- Wearing something dasai makes you look kakkowarui.
otonagenai
大人気ない
No air of adult.
- Not behaving like an adult. Behaving like a child. Being immature.
- Being otonagenai makes you look kakkowarui.
nasakenai
情けない
Pathetic.
- Unworthy of:
- nasake
  情け
  Pity. Sympathy.