数奇|すうきsuuki[1]atamadaka (head-high)
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- noun, na-adjectivemisfortune; adverse fortune; hapless fate
- na-adjective, nouncheckered (life, career, etc.); varied; eventful; dramatic; full of ups and downs
Conjugation
| Plain form | 数奇(すうき) |
|---|---|
| Polite (desu) | 数奇です(すうきです) |
| Negative (dewa nai) | 数奇ではない(すうきではない) |
| polite (dewa arimasen) | 数奇ではありません(すうきではありません) |
| Past (datta) | 数奇だった(すうきだった) |
| Past negative (dewa nakatta) | 数奇ではなかった(すうきではなかった) |
| Te form (de) | 数奇で(すうきで) |
| Adverbial (ni) | 数奇に(すうきに) |
| Conditional (nara) | 数奇なら(すうきなら) |
Common forms generated by rule; see the senses for honorific or irregular usage.
- Synonym不運ふうんNeutralThe general word for bad luck or being unlucky. 「数奇」 stresses a fate full of dramatic ups and downs, often as 「数奇な運命」.
- Synonym不幸ふこうNeutralCovers unhappiness and misfortune, and can politely refer to a relative's death. 「数奇」 stresses a life of dramatic, eventful turns rather than plain unhappiness.
- Synonym不遇ふぐうWrittenA written, formal word for talent going unrewarded, as in 「不遇の天才」; it stresses being denied the position or treatment one deserves.
- Synonym不幸せふしあわせNeutralMeans not being happy, with the focus on one's feelings. 「数奇」 is about a fate full of strange ups and downs, not about feeling unhappy.
- Related気の毒きのどくNeutralAbout feeling sorry for someone else's misfortune — the focus is the observer's sympathy, not the fate itself, which is what 「数奇」 describes.
- Related薄幸はっこうWrittenWritten and formal, said mostly of women: ill-fated or hapless, as in 「薄幸の美女」. 「数奇」 describes an eventful fate, not simply an unhappy one.
- RelatedアンラッキーCasualColloquial loanword for unlucky, usually about momentary bad luck. 「数奇」 refers to a whole life of dramatic twists and turns.
Use 「数奇」 for a checkered, eventful fate, as in 「数奇な運命をたどる」. Plain bad luck is 「不運」, unhappiness 「不幸」, unrecognized talent 「不遇」, ill-fated (usu. of women) 「薄幸」. 「気の毒」 adds sympathy, 「アンラッキー」 is casual one-off bad luck, 「不幸せ」 is feeling unhappy.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
- 不運なこと。


