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惨め (みじめ, mijime) Japanese meaning: miserable | Kotomora

惨みじめ

み

じ

め

Common word›JLPTN2›Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

miserable; wretched; pitiful

Describes a state of deep unhappiness, wretchedness, or pitifulness, often with a nuance of self-pity or objective misery.

雨あめに降ふられて、

惨みじ

め

な

気き

分ぶん

に

なっ

た

。

I felt miserable after getting caught in the rain.

彼かれは惨みじめな生せい活かつを送おくっていた。

He led a wretched life.

Usage patterns

惨みじめな気き持もちになるto feel miserable
試し合あいに負まけて惨みじめな気き持もちになった。
I felt miserable after losing the match.
惨みじめに負まけるto lose miserably
チームは惨みじめに負まけてしまった。
The team suffered a miserable defeat.
惨みじめな姿すがたa pitiful, wretched appearance
彼かれは雨あめに濡ぬれて惨みじめな姿すがたで立たっていた。
He stood there in a pitiful state, soaked by the rain.
〈人ひと〉を惨みじめにするto make someone feel miserable
貧まずしさが彼かれを惨みじめにした。
Poverty made him feel miserable.

Kanji

惨wretched, disaster, cruelty

Related words· 8

哀あわれN3
哀れ emphasizes eliciting pity or compassion from others, while 惨め focuses on one's own painful, wretched feeling.
情なさけないN2
情けない stresses shame or disappointment at one's own weakness, whereas 惨め centers on raw misery or pitifulness.
悲かなしいN4
悲しい is the general word for 'sad', while 惨め emphasizes a more profound, often pitiable or wretched state.
不ふ幸こうN3
不幸 is a noun for objective misfortune or unhappiness, while 惨め is an adjective describing the subjective feeling of misery.

Show 4 more

わびしい
侘しい centers on loneliness and desolation, while 惨め centers on humiliating or pitiable misery.
浅あさましいN1
惨め expresses the feeling of misery or pitifulness from one's own perspective, whereas 浅ましい adds strong moral condemnation of someone's baseness.
無む残ざんN1
惨め describes a wretched, humiliating personal state, while 無残 is used more broadly for ruined things, defeats, or brutal outcomes.
悲ひ惨さんN1
惨め describes a person's own subjective feeling of wretchedness, while 悲惨 objectively describes how dire an external situation or event is.

Written forms

惨みじめUsage52%
Standard kanji spelling; the okurigana め is part of the word.
みじめUsage46%
Kana spelling is common in informal writing and when the kanji is not needed.
ミジメUsage2%

Etymology

The kanji 惨 carries meanings of 'miserable' and 'cruel'. The reading みじめ is a native Japanese word; its exact derivation is uncertain.