深淵|しんえんshin'en[0]heiban (flat)

1. nounabyss; ravine

• Synonym深みふかみNeutralNeutral: a deep place or depth; covers being mired in a situation, and even depth of flavor. Less literary than 「深淵」.
• Related深海しんかいNeutralNeutral: the deep sea, mainly water below 200 m; only occasionally figurative, as in 「記憶の深海」. 「深淵」 is mostly used metaphorically.
• Related奈落ならくWrittenWritten/formal prose, originally a Buddhist term for Hell; also the very bottom, as in 「奈落に落ちる」. Carries a religious coloring that 「深淵」 lacks.
• Related奈落の底ならくのそこWrittenWritten/formal prose: the depths of Hell. Stresses a hopeless situation you cannot escape, and sounds more wretched than 「深淵」.
• Relatedどん底どんぞこCasualColloquial: rock bottom — a situation at its very worst, as in 「どん底の生活」. More everyday than the written 「深淵」.
• Antonym浅瀬あさせNeutralNeutral antonym: shallows — water too shallow to be deep, the opposite of bottomless 「深淵」.
• Antonym浅い所CasualColloquial antonym: a shallow place where the water is not deep — the everyday opposite of 「深淵」.

Use 「深淵」 for a bottomless body of water or, in written style, for something deep and dangerous, as in 「絶望の深淵」「心の深淵」. For a situation at its worst, pick 「どん底」; for Hell, 「奈落」.

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

1. 深ふかい淵ふち。（比喩的ひゆてきに用もちいる。）
2. 物事ものごとの奥深おくふかいところ。