How to say "livelihood" in Japanese

• 生計せいけいJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounLivelihood as the financial means of supporting oneself — how one earns one's keep. The word centers on the economic side of living, as in talk of how a household gets by.
• 暮らしくらしJLPT N3approx.Common
  noun, noun (suffix)Everyday life and how one lives rather than a source of income; its 'living' sense covers day-to-day life circumstances, especially of a household. Natural when talking about how people live.
  もっと良よい暮くらしができますように。↗

  May God show us a better life!
• 生活せいかつJLPT N4approx.Common
  nounThe broad everyday word for living: daily life in general, and as 'livelihood' one's living or how one gets by. The safest general choice when the sense is simply making a living.
• 生業なりわいCommon
  nounLivelihood as the occupation or work by which one earns one's living. Use it when the emphasis falls on the craft or trade that sustains a person rather than on finances or daily life.
  庶民しょみんのなりわいは、米べいをつくることだった。↗

  The ordinary people had their livelihood in farming rice.
• 衣食いしょくCommon
  nounReally denotes the basic necessities of living — food and clothing — rather than a livelihood as a whole. Seldom the word you want for 'livelihood'; it is 'one's keep', the bare means of sustenance.

Use 生活 for living in general, 生計 for the financial means of supporting oneself, 「暮らし」 for everyday life and circumstances, 生業 for the work one lives by, and 衣食 only for basic necessities such as food and clothing.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 生計せいけいlivelihood
• 暮らしくらし(way of) life
• 生業すぎわいoccupation
• 活計かっけいlivelihood
• 方便たずきliving
• 口過ぎくちすぎmaking a living
• 世過ぎよすぎliving
• 飯の種めしのたねmeans of making a living
• 渡世とせいmaking one's way in the world
• 生活せいかつlivelihood
• 飯めしone's living
• 生業なりわいlivelihood
• 衣食いしょくliving
• 勝手かってfinancial circumstances