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Words Kanji Guides About

ひそめる

ひ

そ

め

る

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

1

ichidan verb, transitive verb

knit one's brows; furrow one's brow; frown

usually written using kana alone

Almost exclusively used in the set phrase 眉をひそめる (mayu o hisomeru), meaning to frown or knit one's eyebrows in displeasure, worry, or disapproval.

See also: 眉をひそめる

彼かれの失しつ礼れいな態たい度どに、彼かの女じょは眉まゆをひそめた。
She frowned at his rude attitude.
そのニュースを聞きいて、誰だれもが眉まゆをひそめた。
Everyone knit their brows upon hearing the news.

Written forms

ひそめるUsage100%
Usually written in kana. The kanji forms 顰める and 嚬める are rare and may not be recognized by many readers.
顰ひそめる
Rare kanji form; the character 顰 is not in common use.
嚬ひそめる
rarely-used kanji form
Very rare kanji form; the character 嚬 is not in common use.

Kanji

顰scowl, raise eyebrows
嚬frown, scowl

Similar words

しかめる
しかめる (顰める) is a more general verb for making a grimace or frown, not limited to the eyebrows. ひそめる is almost always used with 眉 (eyebrows).

Etymology

The verb ひそめる is of native Japanese origin. The kanji 顰 and 嚬 are rare and were likely assigned based on meaning rather than phonetic derivation (ateji-like usage). The exact historical derivation is uncertain.