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心細い (こころぼそい) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Common word› JLPT N2 › Freq. Frequency Top 50,000 Conjugation 心細い · i-adjective
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 心こころ 細ぼそ い 心こころ 細ぼそ くない Polite 心こころ 細ぼそ いです 心こころ 細ぼそ くないです also 心こころ 細ぼそ くありません Past polite 心こころ 細ぼそ かったです 心こころ 細ぼそ くなかったです also 心こころ 細ぼそ くありませんでした Past 心こころ 細ぼそ かった 心こころ 細ぼそ くなかった Te-form 心こころ 細ぼそ くて 心こころ 細ぼそ くなくて Adverbial 心こころ 細ぼそ く Conditional 心こころ 細ぼそ ければ 心こころ 細ぼそ くなければ Tara conditional 心こころ 細ぼそ かったら 心こころ 細ぼそ くなかったら
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知し
ら
ない
町まち
で
一人ひとり
に
なり
、
心こころ
細ぼそ
く
なっ
た
。
I felt lonely and helpless when I was alone in an unfamiliar town.
Usage patterns 〈 場ば 所しょ 〉 で 一ひと 人り で 心こころ 細ぼそ い to feel lonely and anxious being alone in a place
I felt lonely and anxious being alone in an unfamiliar town.
心こころ 細ぼそ い 思おも いをする to have a lonely, helpless feeling
I had a lonely, anxious time during my first stint living abroad.
〈 事こと 〉 が 心こころ 細ぼそ い to feel anxious about something (e.g. lack of money, support)
I'm anxious because the money I have left is running low.
心こころ 細ぼそ くなる to become anxious and lonely
As night fell, I suddenly felt lonely and uneasy.
Related words 寂しい focuses on the ache of loneliness or missing someone, whereas 心細い adds a sense of helplessness and worry about coping alone.
不安 is the general word for anxiety or unease about anything, while 心細い specifically conveys the lonely, unsupported feeling behind that anxiety.
侘しい is a more literary word for a bleak, forlorn loneliness, while 心細い is the everyday word for feeling anxious and unsupported.
頼りない describes something or someone that seems unreliable or insufficient to depend on, while 心細い describes the anxious feeling one has as a result of lacking such support.
Written forms 心こころ 細ぼそ い Usage 95%
心こころ ぼそい Usage 4%
こころぼそい Usage 1%
Kana spelling is common when the kanji are not needed.
Etymology Compound of 心 (こころ, 'heart, mind') + 細い (ほそい, 'thin, narrow'). The literal sense of a 'thin heart' developed into the figurative meaning of feeling emotionally fragile, helpless, or forlorn.