Translation guide
The English word 'droop' describes a downward sagging, bending, or hanging, often due to weakness, tiredness, or lack of support. In Japanese, the expression depends on what is drooping and why.
To describe something living or body-related sagging or hanging down, often from fatigue, sadness, or wilting.
General verb for something hanging down or drooping. Used for shoulders, head, branches, etc. Intransitive.
疲れて肩が垂れている。
My shoulders are drooping from fatigue.
花が暑さで垂れてしまった。
The flowers drooped from the heat.
To hang one's head in shame, sadness, or disappointment. Specifically for the head drooping forward.
彼は叱られてうなだれた。
He drooped his head after being scolded.
To wilt or droop, used for plants and flowers. Also metaphorically for a person's spirit.
水をやらないと花がしおれる。
The flowers will droop if you don't water them.
Kanji form of うなだれる, more literary.
彼は項垂れて歩いていた。
He was walking with his head drooping.
To describe non-living things sagging or hanging loosely downward.
To hang down, droop, or dangle. Used for objects like curtains, ropes, or loose clothing.
カーテンが垂れ下がっている。
The curtain is drooping.
彼のズボンが垂れ下がっていた。
His pants were drooping.
To droop limply or loosely. Often used adverbially with 垂れる.
犬が舌をだらりと垂らしている。
The dog's tongue is drooping limply.
To hang down, dangle, or droop. Emphasizes hanging from a point of attachment.
To describe sagging or drooping of parts of the face, often due to tiredness or aging.
To sag, droop, or become slack. Commonly used for skin, eyelids, or cheeks losing firmness.
年を取るとまぶたがたるむ。
As you age, your eyelids droop.
To hang down or droop. Used for eyebrows, corners of the mouth, etc.
To describe a feeling of discouragement, sadness, or loss of energy.
To feel down, depressed, or in low spirits. Metaphorical drooping of mood.
失敗して気分が落ち込んでいる。
My spirits are drooping after the failure.
To be dispirited, dejected, or droop in spirit. Casual.
To be dispirited or dejected; a more formal, literary expression.
チームは敗戦で意気消沈している。
The team's spirits are drooping after the defeat.
垂れる (たれる) is a general verb for hanging down. 垂れ下がる (たれさがる) emphasizes the state of hanging down loosely, often for objects. たるむ is used for loss of tension, like sagging skin or a slack rope.
While 'droop' can describe mood in English, direct translations like 気分が垂れる are unnatural. Use 落ち込む or しょげる instead.
猿が木の枝にぶら下がっている。
The monkey is drooping from the tree branch.
The corners of my mouth are drooping from tiredness.
He's drooping just from being scolded a little.