pronoun
Dated male first-person pronoun with an arrogant or self-important tone. Strongly associated with the novel 吾輩は猫である, where it is used by a cat.
吾輩は猫である。名前はまだ無い。
I am a cat. I don't have a name yet.
"The word 'impossible' is not in my dictionary," he said.
pronoun
Archaic plural use, also with an arrogant or self-important tone. Rarely used in modern Japanese.
吾輩はこの地を統べる者である。
We are the rulers of this land.
Search-only kana-kanji mixed form.
Variant with explicit が; less common.
Compound of 我 (wa, 'I') + 輩 (hai, 'fellow, group'). The reading わがはい reflects the older possessive particle が. Historically used as a self-important or pompous first-person pronoun.