塞ふさぐ

ふ

さ

ぐ

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

塞ぐ · godan verb (-gu)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	塞ふさぐ	塞ふさがない
Polite	塞ふさぎます	塞ふさぎません
Past polite	塞ふさぎました	塞ふさぎませんでした
Past	塞ふさいだ	塞ふさがなかった
Te-form	塞ふさいで	塞ふさがないで
Desire	塞ふさぎたい	塞ふさぎたくない
Potential	塞ふさげる	塞ふさげない
Passive	塞ふさがれる	塞ふさがれない
Causative	塞ふさがせる	塞ふさがせない
Causative passive	塞ふさがせられるalso 塞ふさがされる	塞ふさがせられないalso 塞ふさがされない
Volitional	塞ふさごう
Polite volitional	塞ふさぎましょう
Imperative	塞ふさげ	塞ふさぐな
Conditional	塞ふさげば	塞ふさがなければ
Tara conditional	塞ふさいだら	塞ふさがなかったら

Pairs with塞がる

Meanings

godan verb (-gu), transitive verb

block up; plug; cover; close

Transitive use for closing or covering an opening, gap, mouth, eyes, ears, etc. The object is the thing being blocked, covered, or closed.

壁かべの穴あなを板いたで塞ふさいだ。
I covered the hole in the wall with a board.
彼かの女じょは両りょう手てで耳みみを塞ふさいだ。
She covered her ears with both hands.

godan verb (-gu), transitive verb

obstruct; stand in the way; block the way

Used when something prevents passage, movement, or progress, especially in phrases like 道を塞ぐ and 行く手を塞ぐ.

倒たおれた木きが道みちを塞ふさいでいる。
A fallen tree is blocking the road.
黒くろい車くるまが彼かれらの行ゆく手てを塞ふさいだ。
A black car blocked their way.

godan verb (-gu), transitive verb

occupy; take up; fill up

Used when a person or thing takes up space so that it is not available for something else. Common collocations include 場所を塞ぐ and 席を塞ぐ.

荷に物もつで席せきを二ふたつ塞ふさがないでください。
Please do not take up two seats with your luggage.

godan verb (-gu), transitive verb

fulfill a duty; perform one's role

Rare and old-fashioned compared with modern 果たす. It is safest to understand this as a limited set phrase or older usage rather than a freely productive modern verb sense.

「責せめを塞ふさぐ」は、義ぎ務むを果はたすという意い味みの古ふるい言いい方かただ。
責めを塞ぐ is an old expression meaning to fulfill one's duty.

godan verb (-gu), intransitive verb

feel depressed; be in low spirits; mope

Intransitive emotional use, especially in 気が塞ぐ. Cross-referenced with 鬱ぐ, another spelling/entry associated with this depressed-state sense.

Usage patterns

〈場ば所しょ〉を塞ふさぐto block a road or passage
工こう事じのトラックが道みちを塞ふさいでいた。
A construction truck was blocking the road.
口くちを塞ふさぐto cover someone's mouth
彼かれは驚おどろいて思おもわず口くちを塞ふさいだ。
He covered his mouth in surprise.
気きが塞ふさぐto feel depressed or down
最さい近きん気きが塞ふさいで何なにもやる気きが出でない。
Lately I've been feeling depressed and have no motivation to do anything.
行ゆく手てを塞ふさぐto block one's way forward
倒たおれた木きが行ゆく手てを塞ふさいでいた。
A fallen tree was blocking the way ahead.

Expressions

耳みみを塞ふさぐplug one's ears; cover one's ears; stop one's ears
穴あなを塞ふさぐfill a hole with earth; plug a hole

Kanji

塞close, shut, cover

Transitive / intransitive

塞ぐ is used both transitively, as in 穴を塞ぐ (to plug a hole), and intransitively in the fixed emotional expression 気が塞ぐ (to feel depressed).

塞ふさがるN2
塞ぐ is the transitive counterpart meaning 'to block, to fill, to cover'; 塞がる is intransitive and describes the resulting state.

Related words· 7

遮さえぎるN1sense 2
遮る means to cut off or interrupt movement, sight, sound, or speech, while 塞ぐ more strongly suggests physically covering or plugging an opening or route.
占しめるN3sense 3
占める is a neutral verb for occupying a position or proportion of space, whereas 塞ぐ implies that the occupied space becomes blocked or unavailable.
果はたすN2sense 4
果たす is the modern, common verb for fulfilling a duty or role, while 塞ぐ in this sense is rare and old-fashioned.
鬱ふさぐ sense 5
鬱ぐ is an alternate-kanji entry used specifically for the emotional sense, while 塞ぐ also covers this meaning in the common phrase 気が塞ぐ.

Show 3 more

詰つまらせる
塞ぐ means to block or close off an opening in general, while 詰まらせる specifically means to cause something (like a pipe or throat) to become clogged, often unintentionally.
閉とざす
塞ぐ means to block or plug a hole or opening, while 閉ざす focuses on closing off an entrance or passage, often with a sense of isolation.
封ふうじる
塞ぐ means to physically block or plug a gap or passage, while 封じる is used more for stopping abstract things like speech, movement, or access.

Opposites

開あけるN5sense 1
開ける means to open something up, the direct opposite of 塞ぐ, which means to block or close it off.

Don't confuse with

防ふせぐN3
防ぐ (ふせぐ) sounds similar to 塞ぐ (ふさぐ) but means to prevent or defend against something, not to physically block or cover it.
堰せく
塞ぐ (ふさぐ) means to block or stop up an opening in general, whereas 堰く (せく) specifically means to dam up flowing water; the shared kanji 塞/堰 and similar meaning make them easy to mix up.

Word family

口くち塞ふさぎ
gagging; silencing; hush money; tiny morsel
炉ろ塞ふさぎ
closing of the winter hearth
場ば所しょ塞ふさぎ
obstruction; space hog; something that takes up space

Written forms

塞ふさぐUsage43%
Standard kanji spelling for this word; used for both physical blocking and extended senses such as 気が塞ぐ.
ふさぐUsage57%

Etymology

The historical derivation is uncertain. The kanji 塞 is conventionally associated with blocking, stopping up, and closing off, which matches the main physical senses.