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待ち兼ねる (まちかねる) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

待まち兼かねる

ま

ち

か

ね

る

Common wordJLPTN1

Meanings

1

ichidan verb, transitive verb

wait impatiently for; look forward to eagerly

Expresses strong anticipation or impatience while waiting for something or someone. Often used when the wait feels long.

彼かの女じょからの返へん事じを待まち兼かねている。
I'm waiting impatiently for her reply.
子こ供どもたちは夏なつ休やすみを待まち兼かねて

い

た

。

The children were eagerly looking forward to summer vacation.

Written forms

待まち兼かねる
Standard kanji spelling with high priority.
待まちかねる
Simplified spelling using kana for 兼ねる; common in everyday writing.

Kanji

待wait, depend on
兼concurrently, and, beforehand

Similar words

待まつ
待つ is the neutral verb for 'to wait'. 待ち兼ねる adds a nuance of impatience or eager anticipation.
待まち遠どおしい
待ち遠しい is an adjective meaning 'long-awaited' or 'hard to wait for', describing the feeling rather than the action of waiting.

Etymology

Compound of 待ち (continuative form of 待つ, 'to wait') + 兼ねる (auxiliary verb expressing difficulty or inability to do something). Literally 'to have difficulty waiting', which developed into the sense of waiting impatiently.