eating alone; dining by oneself
Casual noun for the act of eating a meal alone; often used in contexts like 一人飯をする or 一人飯が寂しい.
Lately, I've been eating alone more often.
Eating alone is nice and relaxing.
一人暮らし refers to living alone, while 一人飯 specifically means eating a meal alone.
孤食 is a more formal or sociological term for eating alone, often with a nuance of isolation, whereas 一人飯 is a casual, everyday word.
Standard kanji spelling.
Alternate kanji spelling using 独り for 'alone'.
Compound of 一人 (ひとり, 'one person, alone') and 飯 (めし, 'meal, cooked rice'). The reading めし for 飯 is a colloquial, often masculine term for a meal.