Word
清らか
Meaning in Englishclean, pure, chaste
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Word context
What it means
清らか means pure and clear, free from impurities; it describes things like water, air, light, or a person's character as virtuous, innocent, and serene.
Main meanings
- Pure and untainted in a physical or moral sense.
- Clear or transparent, easily perceived or understood.
- Calm, pristine, and serene in atmosphere or scenery.
- Describing a virtuous, innocent character or disposition.
- Common in literary or poetic contexts to emphasize beauty through purity.
How to use it
Used to describe physical purity of substances like water or air, and also metaphorical purity of character or atmosphere; commonly appears before nouns as 清らかな + noun, and in literary or polite speech; less common in everyday casual conversation.
Variants and close terms
- 純粋 (じゅんすい, junsui) — pure, sincere
- 透明 (とうめい, toumei) — transparent, clear
- 澄んだ (すんだ, sunda) — clear, pristine
- 汚れた/穢れた (よごれた/けがれた, yogoreta/kegarata) — dirty, sullied (antonym)
Composition
- 清: clear, pure; root semantic of purification and clearness
- らか: a classical adjectival suffix that turns a stem into an i-adjective
- Together they form an i-adjective describing something as pure, clear, and morally untainted
Etymology
清 conveys purity or clarity; らか is a classical adjectival suffix that forms descriptive adjectives; the modern reading kiyoraka reflects phonetic evolution of the compound.
Word class
adjective (i-adjective)
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