ぴんぴん

ぴ

ん

ぴ

ん

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

ぴんぴんする · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	ぴんぴんする	ぴんぴんしない
Polite	ぴんぴんします	ぴんぴんしません
Past polite	ぴんぴんしました	ぴんぴんしませんでした
Past	ぴんぴんした	ぴんぴんしなかった
Te-form	ぴんぴんして	ぴんぴんしないで
Desire	ぴんぴんしたい	ぴんぴんしたくない
Potential	ぴんぴんできる	ぴんぴんできない
Passive	ぴんぴんされる	ぴんぴんされない
Causative	ぴんぴんさせる	ぴんぴんさせない
Causative passive	ぴんぴんさせられる	ぴんぴんさせられない
Volitional	ぴんぴんしよう
Polite volitional	ぴんぴんしましょう
Imperative	ぴんぴんしろ	ぴんぴんするな
Conditional	ぴんぴんすれば	ぴんぴんしなければ
Tara conditional	ぴんぴんしたら	ぴんぴんしなかったら

Meanings

adverb, adverb taking the 'to' particle, noun or participle which takes 'suru'

lively; energetic; full of life

onomatopoeic or mimetic word

Often used as ぴんぴんしている for someone who is surprisingly healthy, lively, or still going strong, especially after illness or despite old age.

祖そ父ふは九きゅう十じゅっ歳さいでもぴんぴんしている。
My grandfather is still full of life even at ninety.
昨日きのうまで寝ね込こんでいたのに、今日きょうはもうぴんぴんしている。
He was bedridden until yesterday, but today he is already lively again.

adverb, adverb taking the 'to' particle, noun or participle which takes 'suru'

vigorously; energetically flopping or jumping

onomatopoeic or mimetic word

Describes quick, vigorous physical movement, especially something jumping, flopping, or twitching with life.

釣つった魚さかながバケツの中なかでぴんぴん跳はねている。
The fish we caught is flopping vigorously in the bucket.

adverb, adverb taking the 'to' particle

piercing; penetrating; grating

onomatopoeic or mimetic word

Sound-symbolic use for a sharp or piercing sound. Depending on the exact sound, other mimetic words such as キンキン may be more common in everyday Japanese.

細ほそい金きん属ぞく音おんがピンピンと耳みみに響ひびいた。
A thin metallic sound rang piercingly in my ears.

See all 11 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉はぴんぴんしているto be surprisingly healthy and full of energy, despite age or illness
おじいちゃんは90歳さいなのにまだぴんぴんしている。
My grandfather is ninety, but he's still full of energy.
〈物もの〉がぴんぴん跳はねるfor something (esp. a fish) to flop or jump vigorously
釣つった魚さかながぴんぴん跳はねている。
The fish I caught is flopping around vigorously.
〈音おと〉が耳みみにぴんぴん響ひびくfor a sound to ring sharply and painfully in one's ears
高たかい音おとが耳みみにぴんぴん響ひびいて頭あたまが痛いたくなった。
The high-pitched sound rang so sharply in my ears that it gave me a headache.
病びょう気きから治なおってぴんぴんしているto have fully recovered from an illness and be back to full health
先せん週しゅう入にゅう院いんしていたのに、もうぴんぴんしている。
He was hospitalized last week, but he's already back to full health.

Related words

元げん気きN5sense 1
元気 is a general adjective/noun for being healthy or energetic, while ぴんぴん is more mimetic and often suggests visible liveliness or surprising robustness.
ぴちぴち sense 2
ピチピチ is also mimetic for lively movement or freshness, especially fresh fish or youthful vitality, while ぴんぴん more often suggests vigorous health or flopping/jumping movement.
きんきん sense 3
キンキン is a common mimetic word for a high, sharp, ringing or painfully cold sensation, and is often more natural than ぴんぴん for piercing-sound contexts.

Opposites

ぐったりN2sense 1
ぐったり describes someone limp, exhausted, and drained of energy, the opposite of ぴんぴん's image of vigorous, lively health.

Written forms

ぴんぴんUsage44%
Common hiragana spelling for this mimetic word; no kanji form is given.
ピンピンUsage56%
Katakana spelling is also attested and can emphasize the mimetic or sound-symbolic feel.

Etymology

A reduplicated Japanese mimetic or sound-symbolic form. The exact historical derivation is uncertain.