不ふ羈き

ふ

き

Meanings

Literary and somewhat old-fashioned term for being free from restraint or convention. Often used in set phrases like 不羈奔放 or 不羈独立.

彼かれの生いき方かたはまさに不ふ羈き奔ほん放ぽうそのものだ。
His way of life is truly free and unrestrained.
不ふ羈き独どく立りつの精せい神しんを大たい切せつにする。
I value the spirit of independence and freedom.

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Kanji

不negative, non-, bad
羈reins, connection
羇reins

Related words

自じ由ゆう
The common, everyday word for freedom. 不羈 is a literary, elevated synonym often used in formal or classical contexts.
奔ほん放ぽう
Means 'wild' or 'uninhibited'. Often paired with 不羈 in the compound 不羈奔放.

Word family

不ふ羈き奔ほん放ぽう
free-spirited and uninhibited
不ふ羈き独どく立りつ
free and independent; unfettered independence
奔ほん放ぽう不ふ羈き
free-spirited and uninhibited
独どく立りつ不ふ羈き
independent and unfettered; acting on one's own convictions
狷けん介かい不ふ羈き
stubbornly independent; sticking to one's convictions

Written forms

不ふ羈きUsage100%
Literary kanji form; the character 羈 is not in the Jōyō kanji list. The variant 不羇 is also attested.
不ふ羇き
Variant spelling using 羇 instead of 羈. Both are rare and literary.

Etymology

From Chinese 不羈 (bùjī), meaning 'unrestrained' or 'unbridled'. The Japanese reading ふき is the on'yomi. The exact historical path into Japanese is uncertain, but it is used in literary and formal writing.