Word
切ない
Meaning in Englishpainful, trying, sad
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
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Word context
What it means
What does 切ない mean? It describes a bittersweet emotional ache that grips the heart when longing, nostalgia, or unfulfilled desire is felt; the core idea is a sharp, lingering sadness that is tender rather than brutal.
Main meanings
- 悲しい (kanashii) — sadness mixed with longing or pain
- 物悲しい (monoganashii) — melancholic, quietly desolate mood
- やるせない (yarusenai) — heart-wrenching, powerless ache
- 侘しい (wabashii) — desolate, forlorn atmosphere
How to use it
As an i-adjective, 切ない is used to describe emotional states and situations. It is common in casual speech and literature, and can modify a noun directly as 切ない気持ち, or appear in phrases to convey mood. It typically denotes inward emotional pain rather than physical pain and often appears in romantic or melancholic contexts, including songs, films, and prose.
Variants and close terms
- 悲しい (kanashii) — synonym; sadness
- 物悲しい (monoganashii) — melancholic
- やるせない (yarusenai) — heart-wrenching
- 侘しい (wabashii) — desolate
- antonym: 楽しい (tanoshii) — joyful
Composition
- 切: to cut; sharp edge; metaphor for a piercing emotional impact
- ない: negative suffix; attaches to the stem of an i-adjective to negate or form the 'setsunai' nuance
Word class
i-adjective (形容詞)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N1
小切手
kogitte
cheque, check
N1
一切
issai
without exception, the whole
N1
打ち切る
uchikiru
to stop, to abort, to discontinue, to close
N1
押し切る
oshikiru
to have one's own way
N1
噛み切る
kamikiru
to bite off, to gnaw through
N1
切替
kirikae
exchange, conversion, switchover
N1
切れ目
kireme
break, pause, gap
N1
区切り
kugiri
an end, a stop, punctuation
N1
仕切る
shikiru
to partition, to divide, to mark off
Kanji