As a Japanese compound word-builder, the kanji suffix 的 (teki, -like) is a remarkably productive workhorse. In addition to serving in hundreds of compounds listed in Japanese-English kanji dictionaries, 的 is also heavily featured — for better or worse — in the patois of young Japanese.

When used properly, 的 is generally added to the end of noun-bases to form adjectives, and means "like" or "related to" what is denoted in the base, similar to the English "-ic" (e.g., hero + ic) or "-al" (e.g., logic + al). Most commonly appearing at the end of three-kanji compounds, for example, 機械的, (kikai-teki [kikai + teki, machine + like], mechanical), 的 may also be joined with one other kanji, as in 知的 (chi-teki [ chi + teki, intellect + like], intellectual) or foreign loanwords such as アメリカ (アメリカ 的, Amerika-teki, American-like).

的 also appears in the final position of four-kanji compounds, typically when the lead character is one of negation (e.g., 非人間的 hi-ningen-teki, not/human/like, inhuman) or amplification (e.g., 超感覚的 chō-kankaku-teki, ultra/sense/like, extrasensory).