〜気味

〜気味（ぎみ）describes a CURRENT state that is leaning slightly in some direction, usually an unwanted one: 風邪気味 (having slight cold symptoms), 疲れ気味 (a bit run-down), 太り気味 (verging on gaining weight). The degree is only "slightly" — the speaker senses the signs, but it isn't serious yet.

Connection: verb ます-form stem minus ます + 気味 (疲れ気味, 遅れ気味), or noun + 気味 (風邪気味). 気味 behaves like a な-adjective: at the end of a sentence it's 気味だ／気味です, and modifying a noun it's 気味の. Note that as a suffix it's read ぎみ.

Compared with 〜がち, which you've just learned: がち is FREQUENCY — a bad thing repeating many times (学校を休みがち — frequently absent from school), while 気味 is the DEGREE of the state right now (今日は風邪気味 — feeling a bit of a cold today). And 〜っぽい leans toward impressions, visible qualities (安っぽい — looks cheap), not necessarily a bodily state or an ongoing situation.

Examples

• 今日(きょう)は少(すこ)し風邪気味(かぜぎみ)なので、早(はや)く帰(かえ)ります。

  I'm feeling a bit of a cold coming on today, so I'll go home early.

• 最近(さいきん)仕事(しごと)が多(おお)くて、疲(つか)れ気味(ぎみ)だ。

  I've had a lot of work lately and I'm feeling a bit worn out.

• 甘(あま)いものを食(た)べすぎて、太(ふと)り気味(ぎみ)です。

  I've been eating too many sweets and I'm starting to put on weight.

Related patterns

• 〜がち
• 〜っぽい