っぽい

Emphasis of earlier form ぽい (poi), in turn apparently an Edo-period shift from 多(おお)い (ōi, “many, much, lots of”), previously read and written as おほい (ohoi ← ofoi ← opoi). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

• IPA^(key): [p̚po̞i]

っぽい • (-ppoi) 

1. -like, -ish, -esque

   子(こ)供(ども)っぽい

   kodomoppoi

   childish

   彼(かの)女(じょ)の目(め)は緑(みどり)っぽい色(いろ)です。

   Kanojo no me wa midorippoi iro desu.

   Her eyes are of a greenish color.

   レトロっぽい

   retoroppoi

   retroesque

   フュージョンっぽい

   fyūjonppoi

   fusionesque

• Inflects as an -i adjective (形容詞).
• Follows nouns, stems of adjectives, and continuative (連用形) forms of verbs.
• In certain contexts, this っぽい (-ppoi) may have overtones that the quality is inappropriate or unexpected, contrasting with らしい (-rashii) with overtones that the quality is appropriate and expected. Compare the contextual contrast between English suffixes -ish and -ly or -like, where the former is negative and the latter is positive:
  • 男(おとこ)っぽい、女(おんな)っぽい、子供(こども)っぽい

    otokoppoi, onnappoi, kodomoppoi

    mannish, womanish, childish

  • 男(おとこ)らしい、女(おんな)らしい、子供(こども)らしい

    otokorashii, onnarashii, kodomorashii

    manly, womanly, childlike

• みたい (mitai)

• ぽい (poi)