Usage patterns 独どく 身しん でいる to remain/stay single
He is still single even in his thirties.
独どく 身しん を 貫つらぬ く to remain single by choice, to stick to being unmarried
She has decided to stay single for her whole life.
独どく 身しん 生せい 活かつ を 送おく る to lead a single (unmarried) lifestyle
He is leading a carefree single life in Tokyo.
Kanji 独 single, alone, spontaneously 身 somebody, person, one's station in life Related words· 7 未婚 is a formal, official-sounding term for 'unmarried' used in census or legal contexts, while 独身 is the common everyday word for being single.
独り身 is a colloquial term emphasizing living alone or having no partner, whereas 独身 focuses specifically on one's unmarried legal status.
シングル is a casual loanword for being unmarried, while 独身 is the standard, more formal Japanese term for single/unmarried status.
独身 specifically means 'unmarried, single status', while 一人 in this sense is a more casual way to say the same thing.
Show 3 more Show fewer 独身 is the more common, everyday word covering anyone currently unmarried (including divorced or widowed people), while 未婚者 is a more formal, statistical term meaning specifically someone who has never married.
独身 is the formal, everyday term for being unmarried, while シングルス ／シングルズ is a more casual, collective label often used in social or marketing contexts.
独身 is a neutral, factual word simply meaning 'unmarried', whereas お一人様 is colloquial and carries a mocking or wistful nuance about being single and childless past a certain age.
Opposites 既婚 means 'married' and is the direct opposite of 独身 'unmarried' in formal usage.
独身 means unmarried/single, the direct opposite of 人妻 's state of being a married woman.
独身 describes being single with no partner, the opposite relationship status from being part of a カップル .
既婚者 is the formal term for a married person, whereas 独身 is the everyday word meaning 'single' or 'unmarried', its practical opposite.
Don't confuse with 単身 means 'alone, by oneself' (e.g. living apart from family for work) and does not indicate marital status like 独身 does.
独身 refers to being unmarried or single, not to the emotional or social isolation described by 孤独 , though both share the kanji 独 .
独房 (a solitary prison cell) and 独身 (being unmarried/single) share the kanji 独 but refer to completely unrelated concepts.
独身 describes marital status (being unmarried), whereas 一人暮らし describes the living arrangement of living alone regardless of marital status.
Word family· 9 unmarried person; bachelor; spinster
dormitory for singles; bachelor hostel
single man; bachelor
single person tax; bachelor tax
voluntary singlehood; singlehood by choice
Show 4 more Show fewer single woman; unmarried woman
bachelor life; single life
bachelor; single male
affluent single person; unmarried person living in style
Etymology Compound of 独 (alone) and 身 (body/self), literally 'alone body'. The meaning 'unmarried' is a natural extension.
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