むせる

む

せ

る

JLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

むせる · ichidan verb

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	むせる	むせない
Polite	むせます	むせません
Past polite	むせました	むせませんでした
Past	むせた	むせなかった
Te-form	むせて	むせないで
Desire	むせたい	むせたくない
Potential	むせられるalso むせれる	むせられないalso むせれない
Passive	むせられる	むせられない
Causative	むせさせる	むせさせない
Causative passive	むせさせられる	むせさせられない
Volitional	むせよう
Polite volitional	むせましょう
Imperative	むせろ	むせるな
Conditional	むせれば	むせなければ
Tara conditional	むせたら	むせなかったら

Meanings

ichidan verb, intransitive verb

choke; be choked by; be stifled by

usually written using kana alone

Describes choking on food, drink, smoke, or strong emotions; often used with particles like に (on something) or で (due to something).

水みずを飲のんでむせた。
I choked on the water.
煙けむりでむせて咳せきが出でた。
I choked on the smoke and coughed.

See all 17 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈物もの〉にむせるto choke on something
彼かれは煙けむりにむせて涙なみだを流ながした。
He choked on the smoke and his eyes watered.
〈物もの〉でむせるto choke due to something
お茶ちゃを一いっ気きに飲のんでむせてしまった。
I gulped down my tea too fast and choked on it.

Kanji

噎choke, smother
咽throat, choked, smothered

Related words

咳せき込こむ
むせる describes the throat's involuntary choking reaction to food, smoke, or emotion, while 咳き込む describes the resulting fit of repeated coughing.

Don't confuse with

詰つまらせる
詰まらせる is transitive and means to block or choke something (e.g. one's throat), while むせる is intransitive and describes the involuntary choking sensation itself.

Word family

むせっぽい
choking; stifling; suffocating

Written forms

むせるUsage85%
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 噎せる and 咽せる are rare and may not be recognized by all readers.
噎むせるUsage10%
Rare kanji form; the character 噎 is not commonly used.
咽むせるUsage3%
Rare kanji form; the character 咽 is not commonly used.
咽むせるUsage2%
irregular okurigana
Irregular okurigana usage; very rare.

Etymology

The origin is uncertain; it may be related to the mimetic word むずむず (feeling irritated or ticklish) or the verb 蒸す (to steam), but the exact derivation is unclear.