溺おぼれる

お

ぼ

れ

る

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

溺れる · ichidan verb

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	溺おぼれる	溺おぼれない
Polite	溺おぼれます	溺おぼれません
Past polite	溺おぼれました	溺おぼれませんでした
Past	溺おぼれた	溺おぼれなかった
Te-form	溺おぼれて	溺おぼれないで
Desire	溺おぼれたい	溺おぼれたくない
Potential	溺おぼれられるalso 溺おぼれれる	溺おぼれられないalso 溺おぼれれない
Passive	溺おぼれられる	溺おぼれられない
Causative	溺おぼれさせる	溺おぼれさせない
Causative passive	溺おぼれさせられる	溺おぼれさせられない
Volitional	溺おぼれよう
Polite volitional	溺おぼれましょう
Imperative	溺おぼれろ	溺おぼれるな
Conditional	溺おぼれれば	溺おぼれなければ
Tara conditional	溺おぼれたら	溺おぼれなかったら

Pairs with溺らす

Meanings

ichidan verb, intransitive verb

drown; struggle in water; nearly drown

Literal sense: struggling in water, sinking, or being unable to breathe. Can range from 'nearly drowning' to actual drowning; context determines severity.

Usage patterns

〈場ば所しょ〉で溺おぼれるto drown/struggle in the water at 〈place〉
子こ供どもが川かわで溺おぼれて助たすけられた。
A child was struggling in the river and was rescued.
〈物もの〉に溺おぼれるto be addicted to / wallow in 〈thing〉
彼かれは酒さけに溺おぼれて仕し事ごとを失うしなった。
He became addicted to alcohol and lost his job.

Expressions

策さく士し策さくに溺おぼれるthe crafty schemer drowns in his own scheme; craft brings nothing home
溺おぼれる者ものは藁わらをも掴つかむa drowning man will clutch at a straw

Kanji

溺drown, indulge

Transitive / intransitive

溺おぼらす sense 1
溺らす is the transitive form meaning 'to drown someone/something', while 溺れる is intransitive, meaning 'to drown' or 'to be drowning'.

Related words· 7

溺おぼれ死しぬ sense 1
溺れ死ぬ specifically means 'to drown to death', while 溺れる alone is ambiguous between struggling in water and actually dying.
のめり込こむ sense 2
のめり込む describes becoming deeply absorbed in something and is more neutral, while 溺れる carries a stronger sense of losing self-control to one's detriment.
はまるN2sense 2
はまる is a casual, often positive word for getting hooked on a hobby or interest, while 溺れる implies excessive, harmful indulgence.
熱ねっ中ちゅうN3sense 2
熱中する means to be passionately enthusiastic about something and is neutral or positive, whereas 溺れる suggests losing oneself in a way that harms one's life or judgment.

Show 3 more

目めがくらむN1
溺れる means to be infatuated with or overwhelmed by something like money or love, similar to how 目がくらむ describes losing judgment to greed or desire.
浸ひたるN1
溺れる carries a stronger negative nuance of being overwhelmed or addicted (e.g. 酒に溺れる), while 浸る can be neutral or pleasant (e.g. 幸福に浸る).
耽ふけるN1
溺れる (as in 酒に溺れる) emphasizes being helplessly overtaken by a vice, while 耽る can describe milder or even harmless indulgence like reading.

Don't confuse with

あふれるN3
溢れる (あふれる, 'to overflow') looks visually similar to 溺れる (おぼれる, 'to drown') due to their shared 氵 radical, but they are unrelated in meaning.

Word family

溺おぼれ死じに
death by drowning; drowning death
溺おぼれ谷だに
drowned valley; ria
溺おぼれ死しぬ
drown; die by drowning
溺おぼれ込こむ
drown; get addicted; become infatuated
溺おぼれ損そこなう
nearly drown; come close to drowning

Written forms

溺おぼれるUsage76%
Standard kanji spelling for both literal drowning and figurative indulgence.
おぼれるUsage24%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially for the figurative sense.

Etymology

Derived from classical Japanese verb おぼる (oboru), with the same meaning. The kanji 溺 is composed of 氵(water) and 弱(weak), suggesting weakness in water.