塞ぐ (ふさぐ) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

塞ふさぐ

ふ

さ

ぐ

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

塞ぐ · godan verb (-gu)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	塞ふさぐ	塞ふさがない
Polite	塞ふさぎます	塞ふさぎません
Past polite	塞ふさぎました	塞ふさぎませんでした
Past	塞ふさいだ	塞ふさがなかった
Te-form	塞ふさいで	塞ふさがないで
Desire	塞ふさぎたい	塞ふさぎたくない
Potential	塞ふさげる	塞ふさげない
Passive	塞ふさがれる	塞ふさがれない
Causative	塞ふさがせる	塞ふさがせない
Causative passive	塞ふさがせられるalso 塞ふさがされる	塞ふさがせられないalso 塞ふさがされない
Volitional	塞ふさごう
Polite volitional	塞ふさぎましょう
Imperative	塞ふさげ	塞ふさぐな
Conditional	塞ふさげば	塞ふさがなければ
Tara conditional	塞ふさいだら	塞ふさがなかったら

Pairs with塞がる

Meanings

godan verb (-gu), transitive verb

block up; plug; cover; close

Transitive use for closing or covering an opening, gap, mouth, eyes, ears, etc. The object is the thing being blocked, covered, or closed.

Kanji

塞close, shut, cover

Transitive / intransitive

塞ぐ is used both transitively, as in 穴を塞ぐ (to plug a hole), and intransitively in the fixed emotional expression 気が塞ぐ (to feel depressed).

塞ふさがるN2
塞ぐ is the transitive counterpart meaning 'to block, to fill, to cover'; 塞がる is intransitive and describes the resulting state.

Related words· 7

遮さえぎるN1sense 2
遮る means to cut off or interrupt movement, sight, sound, or speech, while 塞ぐ more strongly suggests physically covering or plugging an opening or route.
占しめるN3sense 3
占める is a neutral verb for occupying a position or proportion of space, whereas 塞ぐ implies that the occupied space becomes blocked or unavailable.
果はたすN2sense 4
果たす is the modern, common verb for fulfilling a duty or role, while 塞ぐ in this sense is rare and old-fashioned.
鬱ふさぐ sense 5
鬱ぐ is an alternate-kanji entry used specifically for the emotional sense, while 塞ぐ also covers this meaning in the common phrase 気が塞ぐ.

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詰つまらせる
塞ぐ means to block or close off an opening in general, while 詰まらせる specifically means to cause something (like a pipe or throat) to become clogged, often unintentionally.
閉とざす
塞ぐ means to block or plug a hole or opening, while 閉ざす focuses on closing off an entrance or passage, often with a sense of isolation.
封ふうじる
塞ぐ means to physically block or plug a gap or passage, while 封じる is used more for stopping abstract things like speech, movement, or access.

Opposites

開あけるN5sense 1
開ける means to open something up, the direct opposite of 塞ぐ, which means to block or close it off.

Don't confuse with

防ふせぐN3
防ぐ (ふせぐ) sounds similar to 塞ぐ (ふさぐ) but means to prevent or defend against something, not to physically block or cover it.
堰せく
塞ぐ (ふさぐ) means to block or stop up an opening in general, whereas 堰く (せく) specifically means to dam up flowing water; the shared kanji 塞/堰 and similar meaning make them easy to mix up.

Word family

口くち塞ふさぎ
gagging; silencing; hush money; tiny morsel
炉ろ塞ふさぎ
closing of the winter hearth
場ば所しょ塞ふさぎ
obstruction; space hog; something that takes up space

Written forms

塞ふさぐUsage43%
Standard kanji spelling for this word; used for both physical blocking and extended senses such as 気が塞ぐ.
ふさぐUsage57%

Etymology

The historical derivation is uncertain. The kanji 塞 is conventionally associated with blocking, stopping up, and closing off, which matches the main physical senses.

塞ふさぐ

Meanings

Usage patterns

Expressions