郷きょう愁しゅう

きょ

う

しゅ

う

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

A somewhat literary word for a sentimental longing for one's hometown or the past. In everyday speech, ノスタルジア or 懐かしさ are more common.

故こ郷きょうの写しゃ真しんを見みると、郷きょう愁しゅうにかられる。
Looking at photos of my hometown, I am seized by nostalgia.
この歌うたには、失うしなわれた時じ代だいへの郷きょう愁しゅうが漂ただよっている。
This song is filled with nostalgia for a lost era.

See all 14 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈事こと〉に郷きょう愁しゅうを感かんじるto feel nostalgia for something
古ふるい写しゃ真しんを見みると、子こ供どもの頃ころに郷きょう愁しゅうを感かんじる。
Looking at old photos, I feel nostalgic for my childhood.
〈物もの〉が郷きょう愁しゅうを誘さそうfor something to evoke a sense of nostalgia
その古ふるい町まち並なみは郷きょう愁しゅうを誘さそう風ふう景けいだった。
The old townscape was a scene that evoked a sense of nostalgia.
郷きょう愁しゅうに駆かられるto be overcome by nostalgia
彼かれは故こ郷きょうを離はなれて十じゅう年ねん、時とき々どき郷きょう愁しゅうに駆かられる。
It's been ten years since he left his hometown, and he's sometimes overcome by nostalgia.

Kanji

郷home town, village, native place
愁distress, grieve, lament

Related words

ノスタルジア
ノスタルジア is a casual loanword for nostalgia often used in pop culture, while 郷愁 is a more literary term for sentimental longing.
懐なつかしいN3
懐かしい is the everyday adjective for feeling nostalgic about something, while 郷愁 is a more formal noun describing the emotion itself.
望ぼう郷きょう
望郷 specifically means longing to return to one's hometown, while 郷愁 covers a broader sentimental nostalgia for the past in general.
ホームシックN4
郷愁 is a more literary or nostalgic term for longing for one's hometown, while ホームシック is a casual, everyday loanword for feeling homesick.
ノスタルジー
郷愁 is the native Japanese word for nostalgia, often tied to longing for one's hometown, while ノスタルジー is a more general loanword with a literary feel.

Don't confuse with

郷きょう土どN1
郷愁 means the feeling of homesickness or nostalgia itself, while 郷土 is the place (hometown or region) that inspires that feeling.
哀あい愁しゅう
郷愁 means nostalgia or homesickness for a place or past, while 哀愁 is a general sense of pathos or melancholy not tied to longing for home.

Etymology

Compound of 郷 (hometown, native place) and 愁 (grief, melancholy). The word is a Sino-Japanese formation (kango) that entered Japanese from classical Chinese, where it originally referred to the sorrow of being away from one's village.