詫わびる

わ

び

る

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

詫びる · ichidan verb

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	詫わびる	詫わびない
Polite	詫わびます	詫わびません
Past polite	詫わびました	詫わびませんでした
Past	詫わびた	詫わびなかった
Te-form	詫わびて	詫わびないで
Desire	詫わびたい	詫わびたくない
Potential	詫わびられるalso 詫わびれる	詫わびられないalso 詫わびれない
Passive	詫わびられる	詫わびられない
Causative	詫わびさせる	詫わびさせない
Causative passive	詫わびさせられる	詫わびさせられない
Volitional	詫わびよう
Polite volitional	詫わびましょう
Imperative	詫わびろ	詫わびるな
Conditional	詫わびれば	詫わびなければ
Tara conditional	詫わびたら	詫わびなかったら

Meanings

ichidan verb, transitive verb

apologize; make an apology

Standard verb for offering an apology. Often used with に for the person apologized to and を for the matter apologized for.

遅ち刻こくしたことを上じょう司しに詫わびた。
I apologized to my boss for being late.
彼かの女じょは不ふ注ちゅう意いを詫わびる手て紙がみを書かいた。
She wrote a letter apologizing for her carelessness.

See all 52 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉に〈事こと〉を詫わびるto apologize to someone for something
彼かれは上じょう司しに遅ち刻こくを詫わびた。
He apologized to his boss for being late.
手て紙がみで詫わびるto apologize by letter
彼かの女じょはミスを手て紙がみで詫わびた。
She apologized for her mistake in a letter.

Expressions

詫わびを入いれるapologize; make an apology

Kanji

詫apologize

Related words

謝あやまるN4
謝る is the everyday, casual word for apologizing, while 詫びる carries a more formal or written tone.
謝しゃ罪ざいN1
謝罪する is a stiff, often legal or public term for formally apologizing, whereas 詫びる can be used in ordinary polite speech as well.

Don't confuse with

侘わびる
詫びる means 'to apologize', while 侘びる (same reading, different kanji) means 'to feel forlorn or live in quiet solitude'.

Word family

お詫わびN2
apology
詫わびN1
apology
詫わび石いし
apologems; compensation currency
詫わび言ごと
apology; words of apology
詫わび入いる
apologize sincerely; offer a heartfelt apology

Written forms

詫わびるUsage87%
Standard kanji spelling; the only written form.
わびるUsage13%

Etymology

The native verb continues classical 詫ぶ, whose earlier senses included suffering, lamenting, and pleading; the sense “apologize” developed from expressing distress or supplication. 詫 is a semantic spelling.