やましい

や

ま

し

い

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

i-adjective

feel guilty; have a guilty conscience; have qualms

usually written using kana alone

Describes a feeling of guilt or unease about something one has done or is doing. Often used in the negative form やましくない to assert a clear conscience.

彼かれは何なにもやましいことはしていない。
He hasn't done anything to feel guilty about.
やましい気き持もちでいっぱい

だっ

た

。

I was filled with a guilty feeling.

Written forms

やましいUsage86%
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 疚しい and 疾しい are rare.
疚やましいUsage13%
Rare kanji form; the kana spelling is strongly preferred.
疾やましいUsage2%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; the kana spelling is strongly preferred.

Kanji

疚ashamed, painful, guilty conscience
疾rapidly

Similar words

後うしろめたい
後ろめたい also means feeling guilty, but it often implies a sense of being unable to face others or a fear of being found out, whereas やましい focuses more on the internal feeling of guilt.
罪ざい悪あく感かん
罪悪感 is a noun meaning 'sense of guilt' or 'guilty feeling', often used in more formal or psychological contexts. やましい is an adjective describing the state of feeling guilty.

Etymology

The origin is uncertain. It may be related to the classical Japanese word やまし (yamashi), meaning 'ill' or 'wrong', but the exact derivation is unclear.