惜しい

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 惜しい is read as おしい and means too good to waste or regrettable.
• Basic usage: It can describe something too useful to discard or regret over a one-point loss.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Too useful to throw away
  • 惜しい: It would be a waste to throw away paper that can still be used. Example: まだ使える紙を捨てるのは惜しいです。
• Regretting a narrow loss
  • 惜しかった: Losing by one point was truly unfortunate. Example: 一点差で負けたのは本当に惜しかったです。