寂しい・淋しい|さびしいsabishii[3]nakadaka (mid-high)

JLPT N4approx.Common
さみしいsamishii[3]nakadaka (mid-high)
Which spelling to use
寂しい寂しい(さびしい) is the most common written form and the recommended default for learners choosing between these forms.
淋しい淋しい(さびしい) is a less common written form; learners should generally choose 寂しい(さびしい) instead.
Definitions
  1. i-adjectivelonely; lonesome; solitary; desolate
    それで、彼女かのじょはとてもさびしく思おもっています。↗
    And she misses them very much.
Conjugation
Plain form寂しい(さびしい)
Polite (desu)寂しいです(さびしいです)
Negative (kunai)寂しくない(さびしくない)
polite (ku arimasen)寂しくありません(さびしくありません)
Past (katta)寂しかった(さびしかった)
Past negative (kunakatta)寂しくなかった(さびしくなかった)
Te form (kute)寂しくて(さびしくて)
Adverbial (ku)寂しく(さびしく)
Conditional (kereba)寂しければ(さびしければ)
kattara寂しかったら(さびしかったら)

Common forms generated by rule; see the senses for honorific or irregular usage.

Synonyms & antonyms
  • Synonymうら寂しいうらさびしいWrittenWritten/formal prose; a nameless loneliness and desolation, as in 「うら寂しい夕暮れ」; more poetic than 「寂しい」.
  • Synonym心寂しいこころさびしいWrittenAlso written 「心寂しい」: nameless loneliness or bleakness, for people and places alike, with a faint desolate tinge beyond plain 「寂しい」.
  • Related孤独こどくWrittenWritten/formal prose; being alone with no one to turn to, as in 「孤独な老人」; more objective and weighty than the feeling of 「寂しい」.
  • Related寂しげさびしげNeutralNeutral: describes someone as looking lonely, as in 「寂しげな背中」 — how others appear, not one's own feeling.
  • RelatedわびしいWrittenWritten/formal prose; lonely and shabby, as in 「侘しい食事」; carries a bleak, poverty-stricken feel that 「寂しい」 does not.
  • Related物寂しいものさびしいWrittenWritten/formal prose; a vague, hard-to-pin-down loneliness and desolation, as in 「物寂しい秋」; more literary than plain 「寂しい」.
  • Antonym賑やかにぎやかNeutralThe antonym for the desolate side of 「寂しい」: bustling and lively, as in 「賑やかな街」.
  • Antonym楽しいたのしいNeutralThe antonym for the emotional side of 「寂しい」: pleasant and happy, the opposite feeling.

Default to 「寂しい」 for loneliness or desolation. Nameless, poetic desolation: 「うら寂しい」 or 「物寂しい」. Bleak, shabby loneliness: 「侘しい」. The objective state of being alone: 「孤独」. Looking lonely: 「寂しげ」. 「賑やか」 is the lively opposite.

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

Japanese definitions
  1. 孤独こどくだ。人ひとや動物どうぶつなどが恋こいしい。(行為こういなどが)人恋ひとこいしく物もの足たりなく感かんじさせる。
  2. 場所ばしょがひっそりとしていて、人ひとの活気かっきが感かんじられない。
  3. 物ものがないことなどにより落ち着おちつかなかったり、物もの足たりなく感かんじたりする。
  4. 数値すうちが低ひくいことなどにより物もの足たりなく感かんじる、残念ざんねんだ。
Kanji in this word
English equivalents
See also

JLPT vocabulary levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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