窮きゅう地ち

きゅ

う

ち

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

Refers to a difficult situation from which it is hard to escape, often with a sense of urgency or pressure. Common in formal and written contexts.

彼かれの辞じ任にんで会かい社しゃは窮きゅう地ちに立たたされた。
His resignation put the company in a tight spot.
その発はつ言げんが彼かれを窮きゅう地ちに追おい込こんだ。
That remark drove him into a corner.

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Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉を窮きゅう地ちに追おい込こむto drive someone into a tight corner
彼かれの一ひと言ことが相あい手てを窮きゅう地ちに追おい込こんだ。
His one remark drove the other person into a tight corner.
窮地きゅうちを脱だっするto escape from a predicament
彼かれはうまく交こう渉しょうして窮きゅう地ちを脱だっした。
He negotiated skillfully and escaped the predicament.
窮きゅう地ちに立たたされるto be put in a very difficult position
不ふ正せいが発はっ覚かくし、会かい社しゃは窮きゅう地ちに立たたされた。
When the fraud was discovered, the company was put in a very difficult position.
窮きゅう地ちを救すくうto rescue someone from a predicament
友ゆう人じんの助じょ言げんが私わたしの窮きゅう地ちを救すくってくれた。
My friend's advice saved me from a predicament.

Expressions

窮きゅう地ちに陥おちいるfall into a predicament; get into a tight spot

Kanji

窮hard up, destitute, suffer
地ground, earth

Related words· 7

苦く境きょう
苦境 is a broader word for any painful or difficult situation, while 窮地 specifically implies being trapped with little chance of escape.
危き機きN2
危機 focuses on a critical turning point or crisis (which may involve danger to many), whereas 窮地 focuses on one's own personal predicament with no easy way out.
ピンチ
ピンチ is a casual loanword for a tight spot used in everyday speech, while 窮地 is the more formal, literary term for the same idea.
羽は目め
窮地 is a formal, literary word for a dire predicament, while 羽目 is colloquial and almost always used in the fixed phrase 羽目になる.

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難なん局きょく
窮地 describes a personal predicament of being cornered, whereas 難局 is broader and often applies to groups, companies, or nations.
死しに体たい
窮地 refers to a difficult or dangerous predicament in general, while 死に体 emphasizes that the situation is already effectively lost with no way back.
難なん場ば
窮地 is a slightly literary word for being cornered with no easy way out, close in feel to 難場 but often implying more desperation.

Don't confuse with

窮きゅう屈くつN1
窮屈 shares the kanji 窮 with 窮地 but means physically or socially cramped/constrained, not a dangerous predicament.

Etymology

Compound of 窮 (kyū, 'cornered, hard-pressed') and 地 (chi, 'place, situation'), literally 'a place of being cornered'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the meaning has been stable in written Japanese.