やけくそ

や

け

く

そ

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun, na-adjective

desperation; self-abandonment; recklessness out of despair

usually written using kana alone

A state of not caring what happens because of despair or frustration; more emphatic than やけ. Often used in phrases like やけくそになる or やけくそで.

Kanji

自oneself
棄abandon, throw away, discard
糞shit, feces, excrement
焼bake, burning

Related words

やけ
やけ means 'desperation' or 'recklessness from despair', but やけくそ is a stronger, more emphatic version often used in casual speech.

Built from

やけ+クソ

Written forms

やけくそUsage66%
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 自棄糞 and 焼糞 are rare.
ヤケクソUsage33%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling used for emphasis or in casual writing.
自棄やけ糞くそUsage1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; the characters suggest 'self-abandonment' and 'excrement'.
焼やけ糞くそ
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; literally 'burning dung'.

Etymology

The exact derivation is uncertain. It likely combines やけ (desperation) with くそ (excrement) as an intensifier, similar to other vulgar emphatic compounds in Japanese.