separation from the world; world-weariness; retirement from worldly affairs
Literary and rare; refers to a state of being detached from worldly concerns, often with a nuance of hardship or frustration leading to withdrawal. Found in classical Chinese-influenced texts.
He retired from the world with a feeling of world-weariness.
neglected by the world; denied deserved recognition
Rare kanji form; the word is literary and uncommon in modern writing.
Variant kanji form, also rare.
Contains out-dated kanji usage; not used in modern Japanese.
From Chinese 轗軻 (kǎnkē), originally meaning 'rough road' or 'hardship', later extended to 'frustration' and 'separation from the world'. The Japanese reading かんか is the on'yomi of the characters.