くしゃみ

also: くさめ · くっさめ

く

しゃ

み

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

くしゃみする · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Meanings

sneeze; sneezing

usually written using kana alone

Common word for a sneeze; can be used as a noun or with する to mean 'to sneeze'.

charm phrase against early death after a sneeze

idiomatic expressionusually written using kana alone

Only with reading くさめ

Idiomatic expression: くさめ is spoken twice in response to someone sneezing, as a traditional charm to ward off an early death. Rare and old-fashioned.

くしゃみをするto sneeze
花か粉ふん症しょうでくしゃみが止とまらない。
My hay fever is making me sneeze nonstop.
くしゃみが出でるa sneeze comes out
急きゅうにくしゃみが出でた。
I suddenly sneezed.
くしゃみを抑おさえるto hold back a sneeze
会かい議ぎ中ちゅうにくしゃみを抑おさえるのは大たい変へんだった。
It was hard to hold back a sneeze during the meeting.

しゃっくりN3sense 1
くしゃみ is a sneeze, while しゃっくり is a hiccup — both are involuntary bodily reflexes but involve completely different actions.
席せきN4sense 1
くしゃみ is a sneeze, whereas せき is a cough; learners sometimes confuse the two common cold symptoms.
咳せきN3
咳 is a cough, while くしゃみ is a sneeze; both are common cold symptoms but refer to different actions.

回かいN4
The neutral counter for occurrences: how many times something happens.
度どN4
Counts times/occasions like 回, but often for one-off or notable occasions (一度 = once).

くしゃみUsage82%
Standard kana spelling; the word is usually written in kana.
クシャミUsage16%
kana-only spelling
嚏Usage1%
rarely-used kanji form
- くしゃみ
  Rare kanji form; not commonly used.
- くさめ
  rarely-used kana form
- くっさめ
  rarely-used kana form
くさめUsage<1%
rarely-used kana form
Rare reading used in the idiomatic charm expression.
嚔
rarely-used kanji form
- くしゃみ
  Rare kanji form; not commonly used.
- くさめ
  rarely-used kana form
- くっさめ
  rarely-used kana form
くっさめ
rarely-used kana form
Rare emphatic variant of くさめ.

The origin is uncertain; it may be related to the old verb くしゃむ (to sneeze). The reading くさめ is an old form used in a charm.