哀れ

Japanese

Kanji in this term
あわ
Grade: S
kun'yomi

Etymology

From Old Japanese. Originally meant "deeply touching or moving", without a negative connotation.

Pronunciation

Adjective

(あわ) • (awareあはれ (afare)?-na (adnominal (あわ) (aware na), adverbial (あわ) (aware ni))

  1. pitiful, miserable
    (あわ)(もの)
    aware na mono
    wretched fellow

Inflection

Noun

(あわ) • (awareあはれ (afare)?

  1. pity

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN