無事
Meaning in Englishsafety, peace
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Related sentences
There are no published items in this section yet.
Word context
What it means
It means safe, unharmed, or without incident. The core concept is a state in which no harm, trouble, or negative outcome has occurred, and it is commonly used to report safety after danger or to express relief in everyday conversation.
Main meanings
- Unharmed or physically safe after danger
- Safe and sound as the outcome of a journey or event
- Used to convey reassurance or relief in conversation or writing
- As an adverb 無事に to describe performing actions safely or without incident
How to use it
Used across registers to report safety or to convey relief. In speech, 無事だ and 無事です are common polite and formal forms, while 無事に describes actions done safely. Typical contexts include post-incident reports, travel updates, or reassurances in messages; phrases often emphasize the state of being unharmed rather than the process of getting there.
Variants and close terms
- 安全 (anzen) — general safety, 安全 (anzen)
- 平安 (hei'an) — calm, peaceful, 平安 (hei-an)
- 無事だ / 無事です (buji da / buji desu) — common predicate forms
- 危険 (kiken) — dangerous; antonym
Composition
- 無: negation, absence, nothingness
- 事: matter, affair, event
- Together they form a compound meaning a state of no incident or trouble; the phrase is used to describe safety or the absence of harm in a situation
Etymology
From the kanji 無 and 事, with the onyomi readings bu + ji forming buji, a Sino-Japanese phonetic pattern for compounds that yields the modern pronunciation.
Origin
Historically, 無事 appeared in classical Japanese and Buddhist contexts as a general notion of safety or lack of trouble; the term later became common in Edo-period writings and has endured in everyday speech to denote safe arrival, recovery, or the absence of harm.
Word class
noun (na-adjective)