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極み (きわみ, kiwami) Japanese meaning: height | Kotomora
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無ぶ
礼れい
さ
は
不ふ
愉ゆ
快かい
の
極きわ
み
だ
。
His rudeness is the height of unpleasantness.
This scenery can be called the acme of beauty.
Kanji 極 extreme, pole, extremely 窮 hard up, destitute, suffer Related words· 6 極み and 極致 both mean 'the utmost degree', but 極致 is favored in artistic or technical writing while 極みは more general literary usage.
頂点 literally means 'peak' or 'apex' and is used more concretely (e.g. a mountain's peak or a career's height), while 極み is more abstract and literary.
絶頂 emphasizes being at the very top of one's fortune or feeling (e.g. 絶頂期), whereas 極み is used in fixed phrases like ~の極み to express an extreme state.
最高 is a common, everyday word for 'the best' or 'supreme', while 極み is more formal and literary, emphasizing an extreme or ultimate state.
Show 2 more 至り and 極み both mean 'the utmost degree' in expressions like 光栄の至り/極み, but 極み is used more often in everyday speech while 至り sounds more formal and literary.
極み emphasizes an extreme degree (as in 悲しみの極み), while 果て emphasizes the farthest physical or temporal point of something.
Written forms 極きわ み Usage 79%
Standard kanji spelling; used in most contexts.
きわみ Usage 20%
窮きわ み Usage 1%
Rare variant; may appear in older or literary texts.
Etymology Derived from the verb 極める (きわめる, 'to reach the extreme'), with the nominalizing suffix み. The kanji 極 carries the meaning of 'extreme' or 'pole'.