嫌(きら)いDislike, Not fond of

嫌(きら)い, meaning 'to dislike', is one of the very common な-Adjectives in Japanese that is used in many different expressions. All な-Adjectives behave similarly to verbs, in that their form changes depending on what comes after them.

For 嫌(きら)い, it will be followed by either な, when acting as an adjective, だ, or the more polite です, when acting as a noun. This distinction is made depending on whether it is linked to another noun, or is independent.

In the example with だ, 嫌(きら)い is expressing that the thing is 'dislikable' (assertion). However, in the example with な, 嫌(きら)い is expressing 'being disliked' as a quality of the noun it is attached to.

In the same way that 好(す)き can often be partnered with 大(だい) to mean 'love', 嫌(きら)い can often be partnered with 大(だい) to mean 'hate'.

Caution

Despite ending in い, 嫌(きら)い is one of the few words that is actually a な-Adjective, and needs to be memorized.