悲かなしみ

か

な

し

み

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

1

noun

sadness; sorrow; grief

Only when written 悲しみ / 哀しみ

The common modern noun for the feeling of sadness, ranging from ordinary unhappiness to deep grief after loss.

彼かの女じょは深ふかい悲かなしみに沈しずんでいた。
She was sunk in deep grief.

時じ

間かん

が

たっ

て

も

、

その

悲かな

しみ

は

消き

え

なかっ

た

。

Even after time passed, that sadness did not disappear.

2

noun

affection; love

archaic

Only when written 愛しみ

Archaic noun use restricted to the spelling 愛しみ. It reflects an older sense of かなしみ meaning affection or tender love, not the modern ordinary meaning 'sadness'.

古ふるい文ぶん章しょうでは、「愛かなしみ」が愛あい情じょうを表あらわす名めい詞しとして使つかわれることがある。
In old writing, 愛しみ is sometimes used as a noun meaning affection.

Written forms

悲かなしみUsage90%
Standard common spelling for sadness, sorrow, or grief.
哀かなしみUsage7%
Alternative spelling often gives a literary or emotionally colored feel, but the meaning is the same as 悲しみ in the modern sadness sense.
かなしみUsage3%
愛かなしみ
Archaic spelling and sense meaning affection or love; not a normal modern spelling for sadness.

Kanji

悲grieve, sad, deplore
哀pathetic, grief, sorrow
愛love, affection, favourite

Similar words

悲かなしさ
Also means sadness, but 悲しさ often names the degree or quality of feeling sad, while 悲しみ can feel more like a concrete or lasting sorrow.
悲ひ哀あい
A more literary or formal word for sorrow, often used for a deep or reflective sadness.
愛あい情じょう
The normal modern word for affection or love; use this instead of archaic 愛しみ in contemporary Japanese.

Etymology

A native Japanese noun related to かなしい and かなしむ. The spellings 悲しみ and 哀しみ use kanji associated with sadness, while archaic 愛しみ reflects an older affection-related sense; the detailed historical development is not specified.