also: しょくしょく
taru-adjective, adverb taking the 'to' particle
keenly felt; heart-wrenching; heart-rending
Formal, literary term describing a deeply moving, sorrowful feeling. Used as a taru-adjective or adverb with と.
彼の話を聞いて、惻々たる思いが胸に迫った。
Hearing his story, a keenly felt sorrow pressed upon my heart.
その詩には惻々とした哀愁が漂っている。
The poem is filled with a heart-rending melancholy.
Kana spelling for clarity, as the kanji are rare.
Full-character variant of 惻々.
Alternate reading listed; rare and may be encountered in older texts.
切々 is more common and means 'earnestly' or 'keenly', often used for appeals or feelings, while 惻々 is specifically sorrowful and literary.
The kanji 惻 means 'sorrow' or 'compassion'. The reduplicated form 惻々 intensifies the meaning, creating a literary expression for deep, heart-rending emotion. The reading そくそく is the standard on'yomi, while しょくしょく is a rare alternate reading.