背せ負おう

せ

お

う

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

背負う · godan verb (-u)

Meanings

godan verb (-u), transitive verb

Physical action of carrying something on one's back, such as a backpack or a person.

godan verb (-u), transitive verb

Metaphorical use: bearing a heavy responsibility, debt, or emotional burden.

godan verb (-u), transitive verb

have in the background; be backed by

Used when something is behind or supporting a person or thing, such as scenery, authority, or a powerful figure.

godan verb (-u), intransitive verb

be conceited; think highly of oneself

Only with reading しょう

Rare intransitive use with the reading しょう, almost always in the contracted form しょってる. Conveys a sense of being full of oneself.

〈物もの〉を背せ負おうto carry something (a bag, pack, etc.) on one's back
リュックサックを背せ負おって旅りょ行こうに行いった。
I went traveling with a backpack on my back.
責せき任にんを背せ負おうto bear responsibility for something
彼かれはチーム全ぜん体たいの責せき任にんを背せ負おっている。
He bears responsibility for the whole team.
〈事こと〉を背せ負おうto be backed or supported by something (a name, tradition, authority)
彼かれは名めい門もん校こうの名なを背せ負おって試し合あいに出でた。
He played the match carrying the name of his prestigious school behind him.
〈人ひと〉を背せ負おうto carry a person on one's back (piggyback)
父ちちは小ちいさい弟おとうとを背せ負おって山やまを登のぼった。
My father climbed the mountain carrying my little brother on his back.
借しゃっ金きんを背せ負おうto be burdened with debt
若わかいころに多た額がくの借しゃっ金きんを背せ負おってしまった。
When he was young, he ended up saddled with a huge debt.
過か去こを背せ負おうto carry the weight of one's past
彼かの女じょは暗くらい過か去こを背せ負おって生いきてきた。
She has lived carrying the weight of a dark past.

担かつぐN2sense 1
担ぐ means to carry something on one's shoulder, while 背負う specifically means to carry it on one's back.
負おうN2
負う is a broader verb for bearing or incurring something (like debt or injury), whereas 背負う emphasizes carrying that burden on one's back, literally or figuratively.
抱かかえるN2sense 2
抱える means to hold or be saddled with a problem or burden, while 背負う stresses the image of that burden weighing on one's back.
おぶうN2
背負う is the modern standard verb for carrying something (or a burden) on one's back, while 負ぶう is more limited to carrying a person, especially a child, and is usually written in kana.
おんぶN3
背負う is the plain verb for carrying something on one's back, while おんぶ is a softer, child-oriented noun/する-word usually used for piggybacking a person.

下おろすN4sense 1
下ろす means to set something down or unload it, the opposite action of 背負う, which is to hoist and carry it on one's back.

背負うUsage90%
- せおう
  Standard kanji spelling for the common reading せおう.
- しょう
しょうUsage9%
せおうUsage1%
Kana spelling is common in informal writing and when the kanji is not needed.
脊せ負おうUsage<1%
search-only kanji form
Search-only kanji form; not used in modern writing.

Compound of 背 (se, 'back') and 負う (ou, 'to bear, carry'). The reading しょう is a contracted form used in the idiomatic expression しょってる.