非ひ行こう

ひ

こ

う

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

Refers to socially unacceptable or illegal acts, especially by minors. Often used in legal, educational, and news contexts.

少しょう年ねんの非ひ行こうが増ふえている。
Juvenile delinquency is increasing.
非ひ行こうに走はしる若わか者ものを支し援えんする。
We support young people who turn to delinquency.

See all 45 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈事こと〉を防ぼう止しするto prevent (delinquency, an incident)
学がっ校こうは生せい徒との非ひ行こうを防ぼう止しするための取とり組くみを行おこなっている。
The school is taking measures to prevent delinquency among students.
非ひ行こうに手てを染そめるto become involved in delinquent behavior
彼かれは中ちゅう学がく生せいの頃ころから非ひ行こうに手てを染そめていた。
He had been involved in delinquency since junior high school.

Expressions

非ひ行こうに走はしるturn to delinquency; turn to crime (of a child)

Kanji

非un-, mistake, negative
行going, journey, carry out

Related words

犯はん罪ざいN3
犯罪 refers broadly to any crime, while 非行 specifically denotes delinquent or improper conduct, often by minors, that may not always be strictly illegal.
不ふ良りょうN1
不良 describes a person of bad character or a delinquent youth, whereas 非行 refers to the delinquent acts themselves.

Don't confuse with

飛ひ行こうN3
飛行 (ひこう) means 'flight' or 'flying' and is a completely different word that happens to share the same pronunciation as 非行.

Counted with

件けんN2
非行 is counted with 件 when referring to individual incidents or cases of delinquency, e.g. 非行が三件報告された.

Word family

非ひ行こう少しょう女じょ
female juvenile delinquent
非ひ行こう少しょう年ねん
juvenile delinquent

Etymology

Compound of 非 (hi, 'not; wrong') and 行 (kō, 'conduct; action'), literally 'wrong conduct'. The term has been used in modern Japanese legal and educational contexts to refer to juvenile delinquency.