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嘆く (なげく) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Common word JLPT N2 Freq. Frequency Top 20,000 Conjugation Meanings 1
godan verb (-ku), transitive verb, intransitive verb
lament ; grieve ; regret
Expresses deep sorrow or regret over a situation, loss, or one's own misfortune. Can be used both transitively (嘆くべき事態) and intransitively (深く嘆く).
かの
女じょ
は
試し
験けん
に
落お
ち
た
こと
を
嘆なげ
い
た
。
She lamented having failed the exam.
2
godan verb (-ku), transitive verb
deplore ; condemn
Used to express strong disapproval or condemnation of a situation or action, often in formal or written contexts. Closely related to sense 1 but emphasizes moral outrage rather than personal grief.
Written forms 嘆なげ く Usage 87%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common form in modern Japanese.
なげく Usage 8%
歎なげ く Usage 5%
Variant kanji form; less common and somewhat literary or old-fashioned.
Similar words 悲かな しむ 悲しむ is a more general and common word for feeling sadness, while 嘆く implies a deeper, often more vocal or expressive lamentation.
悔く やむ 悔やむ focuses on personal regret over one's own actions or missed opportunities, whereas 嘆く can be about external events or broader misfortunes.
Etymology Derived from the classical verb 嘆く (nageku), which has been used since Old Japanese. The kanji 嘆 is a phono-semantic compound with 口 (mouth) and 難 (difficult), suggesting the idea of expressing difficulty or sorrow.
