stealth; sneaking
General noun for moving or acting secretly, often in the context of ninja or covert operations.
忍びの術を使って敵の城に潜入した。
He infiltrated the enemy castle using stealth techniques.
The shogun went out into town incognito.
Abbreviation of 忍び歩き; refers to traveling without revealing one's identity, often in historical or literary contexts.
See also: 忍び歩き
彼は忍びで諸国を巡った。
He traveled incognito through the provinces.
ninjutsu
Abbreviation of 忍びの術; refers specifically to the art of stealth and espionage practiced by ninja.
See also: 忍びの術
忍びを極めるには長年の修行が必要だ。
Mastering ninjutsu requires years of training.
Abbreviation of 忍びの者; a person trained in ninjutsu, often used in historical or fictional contexts.
See also: 忍びの者
その忍びは闇に紛れて消えた。
The ninja vanished into the darkness.
sneak theft; sneak thief
Refers to a thief who operates stealthily, or the act of stealing by stealth; somewhat dated usage.
忍びに入られて金を盗まれた。
A sneak thief broke in and stole the money.
Used only in the negative phrase 忍びない, meaning 'cannot bear to do something' or 'cannot bring oneself to do something'.
See also: 忍びない
彼の苦しみを見るに忍びない。
I cannot bear to see his suffering.
夜中に忍びを働いた泥棒が捕まった。
The thief who committed a sneak theft in the middle of the night was caught.
忍術 is the standard, widely used term for ninja arts, whereas 忍び in this sense is an abbreviation of the fuller 忍びの術.
隠密 is a more formal word for secrecy or covert activity, while 忍び specifically evokes stealthy, often ninja-like movement.
空き巣 is the modern, concrete word for a sneak thief who enters empty houses, while 忍び in this sense is a dated term for stealthy theft.
凌ぎ (from 凌ぐ) means overcoming or tiding over a hard situation, whereas 忍び (from 忍ぶ) means enduring quietly or acting in secrecy, and the two sound very similar to learners.
creep up; steal up; sneak up
sneak in; creep in; steal in
travelling incognito (of a person of high rank) · special palanquin for incognito travel
ninja sword
whispering; hushed voice
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency news word.
Search-only kanji form; not used as a standalone spelling in modern Japanese.
Derived from the verb 忍ぶ (しのぶ), meaning 'to conceal oneself' or 'to endure'. The noun form 忍び refers to stealth or secret actions, and by extension to ninja and related concepts. The tolerance sense is a separate development from the same verb.
art of stealth; ninjutsu
stealthy; secret; quiet and unobtrusive
steal into; sneak into; slip into