悲ひ喜きこもごも

Meanings

1

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

bittersweet; mixed joy and sorrow

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

A yojijukugo describing a state where happiness and sadness coexist or alternate in one's heart, often used in reflective or literary contexts.

卒そつ業ぎょう式しきは悲ひ喜きこもごもの気き持もちでいっぱいだった。
The graduation ceremony was filled with bittersweet feelings.
彼かれのスピーチには悲ひ喜きこもごもの思おもいが込こめられていた。
His speech was imbued with mingled feelings of joy and sorrow.

See all 4 example sentences ›

Kanji

悲grieve, sad, deplore
喜rejoice, take pleasure in
交mingle, mixing, association

Related words

喜き怒ど哀あい楽らく
喜怒哀楽 refers to the full range of human emotions (joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure), while 悲喜こもごも specifically focuses on the mixture of joy and sorrow.
甘あま酸ずっぱい
甘酸っぱい literally means sweet-and-sour and can metaphorically describe bittersweet experiences, but 悲喜こもごも is more formal and explicitly about emotional states.

Written forms

悲ひ喜きこもごも
Standard modern spelling using kana for こもごも, widely used in contemporary writing.
悲喜交々ひきこもごも
Kanji spelling with 交々; less common but still encountered, especially in literary or formal contexts.
悲喜交交ひきこもごも
Variant kanji spelling; rarely used and may be considered non-standard.

Etymology

Combines 悲喜 “sorrow and joy” with こもごも “alternately, in turn,” originally describing sorrow and joy occurring by turns.