口くちごもる

く

ち

ご

も

る

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

口ごもる · godan verb (-ru)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	口くちごもる	口くちごもらない
Polite	口くちごもります	口くちごもりません
Past polite	口くちごもりました	口くちごもりませんでした
Past	口くちごもった	口くちごもらなかった
Te-form	口くちごもって	口くちごもらないで
Desire	口くちごもりたい	口くちごもりたくない
Potential	口くちごもれる	口くちごもれない
Passive	口くちごもられる	口くちごもられない
Causative	口くちごもらせる	口くちごもらせない
Causative passive	口くちごもらせられるalso 口くちごもらされる	口くちごもらせられないalso 口くちごもらされない
Volitional	口くちごもろう
Polite volitional	口くちごもりましょう
Imperative	口くちごもれ	口くちごもるな
Conditional	口くちごもれば	口くちごもらなければ
Tara conditional	口くちごもったら	口くちごもらなかったら

Meanings

godan verb (-ru), intransitive verb

hesitate to speak; falter; mumble; hem and haw

Describes the act of speaking unclearly or with hesitation, often due to embarrassment, nervousness, or reluctance to say something directly. The verb is intransitive and typically used for the speaker's own speech.

彼かれは何なにか言いいたそうに口くちごもった。
He faltered as if he wanted to say something.
名な前まえを聞きかれて、彼かの女じょは口くちごもった。
When asked her name, she hesitated to answer.

See all 13 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈事こと〉に口くちごもるto falter/hesitate when faced with a question or awkward matter
彼かれは突とつ然ぜんの質しつ問もんに口くちごもった。
He faltered at the sudden question.
「〜」と口くちごもるto mumble "..." hesitantly
「すみません……」と口くちごもった。
He mumbled, "I'm sorry..." hesitantly.
口くちごもりながら〈動どう詞し〉to do something while faltering or stumbling over one's words
彼かの女じょは口くちごもりながら説せつ明めいした。
She explained while stumbling over her words.

Kanji

口mouth
籠basket, devote oneself, seclude oneself
篭seclude oneself, cage, coop

Related words

言いい淀よどむ
言い淀む emphasizes stumbling or pausing mid-sentence while searching for words, whereas 口ごもる emphasizes mumbling unclearly out of embarrassment or reluctance.
口くちを濁にごす
口を濁す means to answer vaguely on purpose to avoid a direct answer, while 口ごもる describes the physical faltering or mumbling itself.
吃どもるN1
どもる refers to stuttering, often from nervousness or a speech habit, while 口ごもる refers to trailing off or mumbling out of hesitation or reluctance.

Opposites

言いい切きる
言い切る means to state something clearly and decisively, the opposite of 口ごもる, which means to falter and trail off.

Don't confuse with

口くちずさむN1
口ずさむ means to hum or murmur a tune to oneself, while 口ごもる means to falter or mumble hesitantly when speaking; the two look alike in writing but mean very different things.

Written forms

口くちごもるUsage88%
Standard kanji-kana mixed spelling; the most common written form.
口くち籠ごもるUsage7%
Variant using 籠 (a non-jōyō kanji); rarely seen.
口くち籠ごもるUsage5%
Variant using 籠 (a non-jōyō kanji); rarely seen.
口くち篭ごもる
Variant using 篭 (a non-jōyō kanji); rarely seen.
口くち篭ごもる
Abbreviated variant; very rare.

Etymology

Compound of 口 (kuchi, 'mouth') and ごもる (gomoru), an older verb meaning 'to be blocked' or 'to be clogged', related to 籠もる (komoru, 'to seclude oneself'). The combination conveys the idea of words being stuck in the mouth.