Translation guide
How to express the idea of skipping or missing a meal in Japanese, including common verbs, phrases, and contextual strategies.
I was so busy I ended up skipping lunch.
More casual than 食事を抜く. Often used in spoken Japanese.
昨日は晩ご飯を抜いた。
I skipped dinner yesterday.
Simply saying 'I didn't eat [meal]'. Very straightforward and natural.
今朝は何も食べなかった。
I didn't eat anything this morning.
昼ごはんを食べなかった。
I didn't eat lunch.
A slightly more colloquial or dialectal variant of 抜く. Less common in standard Japanese.
昼飯を抜かした。
I skipped lunch.
To explain that you couldn't eat a meal because of an external reason (e.g., no food, no time, illness).
Literally 'cannot take a meal'. Implies inability due to circumstances.
忙しくて昼食が取れなかった。
I was so busy I couldn't have lunch.
Means 'to miss the chance to eat'. Often used when you intended to eat but couldn't.
朝寝坊して朝食を食べ損ねた。
I overslept and missed breakfast.
Simply 'cannot eat'. Can be used for various reasons (no appetite, no time, etc.).
お腹が痛くて昼ごはんが食べられなかった。
My stomach hurt and I couldn't eat lunch.
To describe a state of not eating for a while, often with a nuance of endurance or fasting.
Literally 'being without eating anything'. Emphasizes the duration of not eating.
昨日から何も食べずにいる。
I haven't eaten anything since yesterday.
Fasting or abstaining from food, often for medical or religious reasons.
検査の前に絶食してください。
Please fast before the examination.
Both mean 'to skip', but 抜かす is more colloquial and can sound rough or dialectal. 抜く is standard and safe for most situations.
Avoid directly translating 'miss a meal' as 食事を逃す (しょくじをのがす). This sounds unnatural. Use 抜く or 食べない instead.