泡沫うたかた

also: ほうまつ · うたがた

う

た

か

た

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

Refers to a bubble on the surface of a liquid. The reading うたかた is literary/poetic; ほうまつ is technical.

水すい面めんにうたかたが浮うかんでいる。
Bubbles are floating on the water's surface.
石せっ鹸けんの泡沫うたかたがすぐ消きえた。
The soap bubbles disappeared quickly.

2

noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no', noun

ephemeral; transient; fleeting

Metaphorical use emphasizing the fleeting nature of something, like bubbles that quickly vanish. Often used in literary or poetic contexts.

人じん生せいはうたかたの夢ゆめのようなものだ。
Life is like a fleeting dream.
彼かれの成せい功こうは泡沫うたかたのごとく消きえ去さった。
His success vanished like a bubble.

See all 19 example sentences ›

Kanji

泡bubbles, foam, suds
沫splash, suds

Related words

水すい泡ほう
泡沫 also means bubble or foam and can be used figuratively for something fleeting, while 水泡 refers specifically to water bubbles and is strongly tied to the phrase 水泡に帰する.
泡あわN3
泡沫 is a literary word for foam or bubbles, often used metaphorically for something fleeting, whereas 泡 is the plain, concrete term.

Written forms

泡沫Usage65%
- うたかた
  Standard kanji spelling for the reading うたかた; also read ほうまつ in technical contexts.
- ほうまつ
  Technical or formal reading for 'bubble'; rarely used for the ephemeral sense.
- うたがた
うたかたUsage35%
Kana spelling is common in literary and poetic usage, and avoids confusion with the ほうまつ reading.
うたがた
Archaic or dialectal variant of うたかた; not commonly used in modern standard Japanese.
ほうまつ

Etymology

The reading うたかた is of uncertain origin, possibly from うた (song) + かた (shape), but this is speculative. The kanji 泡沫 literally mean 'bubble' and 'foam', and the reading ほうまつ is the on'yomi.