also: すぎょうざ
noun
Buddhist practitioner; ascetic; disciplinant
Refers to someone engaged in Buddhist training or severe self-discipline. Sense 2 (practitioner of austerities) is a natural extension of the Buddhist context.
彼は山寺で修行者として厳しい生活を送っている。
He lives a strict life as a Buddhist practitioner at a mountain temple.
修行者
Ascetics perform severe practices such as fasting and waterfall meditation.
noun
martial arts practitioner; martial artist in training
Used for someone seriously training in martial arts, often with a connotation of spiritual or disciplined practice.
道場には多くの修行者が集まり、日々稽古に励んでいる。
Many martial arts practitioners gather at the dojo and train hard every day.
行者 is a broader term for an ascetic or pilgrim, often in mountain worship contexts, while 修行者 emphasizes the act of training or discipline in Buddhism or martial arts.
修験者 specifically refers to a practitioner of Shugendō, a syncretic mountain ascetic tradition, whereas 修行者 is a more general term for a trainee in Buddhism or martial arts.
修行 (training, ascetic practice) + 者 (person). The reading しゅぎょうじゃ is standard; すぎょうざ is a rare variant.