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働き蜂 (hatarakibachi) Japanese meaning: worker bee | Kotomora

働はたらき蜂ばち

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Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

1

worker bee

Refers to a female bee that does the work of the hive.

働はたらき蜂ばちは蜜みつを集あつめるために飛とび回まわる。

Worker bees fly around to collect nectar.

2

hard worker; diligent person

Colloquial metaphor comparing a hardworking person to a worker bee.

彼かれは会かい社しゃの働はたらき蜂ばちだ。
He is a hard worker at the company.

Kanji

働work, (kokuji)
蜂bee, wasp, hornet

Related words

働はたらき者もの
働き者 is a more general term for a hard worker, while 働き蜂 specifically uses the bee metaphor.

Built from

働はたらく+蜂はち

Written forms

働はたらき蜂ばちUsage70%
Standard kanji spelling.
働はたらきバチUsage30%
Mixed kanji-katakana spelling, common in casual writing.

Etymology

Compound of 働き (hataraki, 'work') + 蜂 (hachi, 'bee'). The metaphorical sense derives from the industrious nature of worker bees.