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Kotomora

渋

astringent, hesitate, reluctant, have diarrhea

JLPTN1StatusJōyō · secondary schoolFrequencyTop 2,000Strokes11

Readings

On'yomi

  • ジュウ
  • シュウ

Kun'yomi

  • しぶ
  • しぶ.い
  • しぶ.る

Meaning

渋 centers on a puckering, tightening quality: an astringent taste that makes you hesitate, a reluctant attitude, or a bodily reaction like diarrhea that feels constricting and urgent.

Most common words using 渋

20 of 44
  • 渋谷しぶや
    N5

    Shibuya City (special ward of Tokyo); Shibuya

  • 渋滞じゅうたい
    N3

    (traffic) congestion; traffic jam; gridlock

  • 渋しぶ

    kakishibu; astringent persimmon juice used as a dye or to treat wood, paper, etc.

  • 渋いしぶい
    N2

    astringent; bitter; puckery; rough; harsh; tart

  • 渋るしぶる
    N1

    to be reluctant (to do); to be unwilling (to do); to hesitate (to do); to grudge; to be tardy (in doing); to put off (doing)

  • 苦渋くじゅう

    bitterness; distress; pain; anguish; affliction

  • 渋々しぶしぶ
    N1

    reluctantly; unwillingly

  • 渋みしぶみ

    astringency; tartness

  • 渋柿しぶがき

    astringent persimmon

  • 難渋なんじゅう

    suffering; distress; difficulty; hardship; misery; being bogged down; hurdle

  • 柿渋かきしぶ

    kakishibu; astringent persimmon juice used as a dye or to treat wood, paper, etc.

  • 渋面じゅうめん

    grimace; sullen face

  • 渋り腹しぶりばら

    bowel pains; painful loose bowels

  • 下げ渋るさげしぶる

    to hold up; to be steady

  • 下渋りしたしぶり

    (stock market) steadiness

  • 事故渋滞じこじゅうたい

    congestion caused by a traffic accident

  • 交通渋滞こうつうじゅうたい

    traffic congestion; traffic jam; (traffic) deadlock

  • 出し渋るだししぶる

    to grudge; to be stingy; to be unwilling to pay

  • 出渋るでしぶる

    to be unwilling to go out

  • 売り渋るうりしぶる

    to be reluctant to sell

Explore all words using 渋 →

Study

Etymology

渋 is the modern simplified form of 澁. The older form combines 氵 (water) with a component that likely contributed the sound and the idea of astringency or stopping. The modern form replaces the complex right side with a simplified shape containing 止, but the exact historical development of the simplified components is uncertain.

Meaning mnemonic

Water 氵 stops 止 at the top right, like an astringent taste that makes your mouth pucker and hesitate. The reluctant feeling and the urgent need to go (diarrhea) both come from that same stopping-then-releasing sensation.

Reading mnemonic

For ジュウ, imagine a jeweler tasting an astringent persimmon and hesitating before buying it: jew -> ジュウ, and the puckering taste makes him reluctant.