大好き
だいすき
daisuki
= to love or like very much; a strong fondness
大好き is how Japanese says I really love this, warm enough for a person you adore yet easy enough to aim at your favorite snack, a single word stretching from deep affection to delighted enthusiasm.
大好き expresses strong liking or love. Built from 好き (to like) intensified by 大 (big), it means to like something a great deal. It applies broadly: to people, food, hobbies, places, and pets. Toward a person it can mean genuine love, though it is generally lighter and more open than the weightier 愛してる. As a な-adjective it takes が for its object, as in 君が大好き.
Use が, not を, for what you love: 猫が大好き (I love cats). Toward a romantic partner 大好き is sweet and very common, often warmer in everyday use than the heavy, less frequently spoken 愛してる. Because it is so usable for objects and activities too, do not assume it always signals romance; context decides whether it means love or simply really like.
大 means big or great, and is read だい here, while 好き comes from 好む (to be fond of) and is read すき. Stacking 大 onto 好き simply scales the fondness up, so 大好き is literally a big liking. The pairing is one of the clearest examples of how 大 works as an intensifier in everyday Japanese.
Everyday use
お母さんの作るカレーが世界で一番大好き。
Okaasan no tsukuru karee ga sekai de ichiban daisuki.
I love the curry my mom makes more than anything in the world.
Casual / Social Media
新しいバンドの曲、マジで大好きすぎて毎日聴いてる。
Atarashii bando no kyoku, maji de daisuki sugite mainichi kiiteru.
I love this new band’s song so much I’m listening to it every single day.
Formal / Cultural context
長年連れ添った妻に、彼は今でも大好きだと伝えている。
Naganen tsuresotta tsuma ni, kare wa ima demo daisuki da to tsutaete iru.
He still tells his wife of many years that he loves her dearly.
大好き is striking to learners because the same word covers loving a person and loving a dessert. Japanese tends to reserve the explicit 愛してる for serious, emotionally heavy declarations, so a great deal of everyday affection, between partners, family, and friends, flows through the lighter, more flexible 大好き instead. This makes it a workhorse of warm feeling in daily life.
The word’s openness also fits a conversational style that often expresses enthusiasm directly about small pleasures. Saying you 大好き a particular shop, season, or character is a normal, friendly way to share personality and bond over shared tastes. Far from sounding excessive, this readiness to declare what you love is part of the cheerful texture of casual Japanese.