儚はかない

は

か

な

い

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

儚い · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	儚はかない	儚はかなくない
Polite	儚はかないです	儚はかなくないですalso 儚はかなくありません
Past polite	儚はかなかったです	儚はかなくなかったですalso 儚はかなくありませんでした
Past	儚はかなかった	儚はかなくなかった
Te-form	儚はかなくて	儚はかなくなくて
Adverbial	儚はかなく
Conditional	儚はかなければ	儚はかなくなければ
Tara conditional	儚はかなかったら	儚はかなくなかったら

Meanings

i-adjective

fleeting; transient; ephemeral

usually written using kana alone

Describes something that passes quickly and cannot be held onto, often with a poetic or melancholic tone. Common with nouns like 命 (life), 夢 (dream), 恋 (love), and 世 (world).

人じん生せいは儚はかないものだ。
Life is fleeting.
桜さくらの花はなは儚はかなく散ちってしまう。
Cherry blossoms scatter fleetingly.

i-adjective

empty; vain; faint

usually written using kana alone

Used for hopes, dreams, or possibilities that are insubstantial or unlikely to be realized. Often appears in phrases like 儚い望み (vain hope) or 儚い期待 (faint expectation).

彼かれの成せい功こうを願ねがうのは儚はかない望のぞみだった。
Hoping for his success was a vain wish.
儚はかない期き待たいを抱だいてはいけない。
You must not harbor faint expectations.

See all 42 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

儚はかない命いのちa fleeting life
儚はかない命いのちを精せい一いっ杯ぱい生いきようと思おもう。
I want to live my fleeting life to the fullest.
儚はかない望のぞみを抱いだくto hold onto a faint/vain hope
彼かれはまだ儚はかない望のぞみを抱いだいていた。
He was still clinging to a faint hope.
儚はかない夢ゆめa fleeting/short-lived dream
若わかい頃ころの儚はかない夢ゆめを今いまでも思おもい出だす。
I still remember the fleeting dream I had when I was young.
儚はかなく散ちるto fall/scatter fleetingly (esp. of flowers)
桜さくらの花はなが儚はかなく散ちっていった。
The cherry blossoms scattered fleetingly.
儚はかない恋こいa fleeting, short-lived love
二人ふたりの儚はかない恋こいはすぐに終おわってしまった。
Their fleeting love came to an end quickly.

Kanji

儚fleeting, fickle
果fruit, reward, carry out
敢daring, brave, bold
無nothingness, none, ain't

Related words

空むなしいN1sense 1
虚しい emphasizes emptiness or futility with a focus on lack of meaning, while 儚い stresses the fleeting, fragile nature of something.
切せつないN1sense 1
切ない describes a painful, wistful feeling, whereas 儚い describes something (like a life, dream, or love) that is itself transient.
もろいN1sense 1
脆い means physically or emotionally fragile and easily broken, while 儚い carries a poetic sense of something passing away quickly.

Opposites

悠ゆう久きゅう
儚い describes something fleeting and transient, the opposite of 悠久's sense of enduring, timeless duration.

Don't confuse with

淡あわいN1sense 1
淡い describes something faint or light in intensity, like color or taste, while 儚い describes something transient or fleeting in existence.
もろいN1
儚い emphasizes fleetingness or transience (like a dream or a short life), while 脆い emphasizes physical or structural fragility, though both can describe delicate things.

Word family

はかなむ
despair of; see the vanity of
はかなくなる
to die; to pass away

Written forms

儚はかないUsage23%
Standard kanji form; the character 儚 carries the core meaning of transience.
はかないUsage75%
Common kana spelling; usually written in kana.
果は敢かないUsage2%
search-only kanji form
Search-only kanji form.
果敢無はかない
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.
果無はかない
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.

Etymology

Derived from the verb はかなく (hakanaku), the adverbial form of classical はかなし (hakanashi). The kanji 儚 is a kokuji (Japanese-created character) combining 人 (person) and 夢 (dream), visually suggesting the fleeting nature of human dreams.