痩せる・瘠せる|やせるyaseru[0]heiban (flat)
This browser can't play pronunciations (needs Safari 18.4 or later, or Chrome / Edge / Firefox).
Which spelling to use
痩せる痩せる（やせる） is the most common form; learners should use it by default when they need to write this word.
瘠せる瘠せる is rarely used, so learners will seldom encounter it and should generally choose 痩せる（やせる） instead.
Definitions
- ichidan verb, intransitive verbto become thin; to lose weight; to slim
- ichidan verb, intransitive verbto become impoverished (of soil); to become sterile; to become infertile; to become barren
Conjugation
| Dictionary form | 痩せる（やせる） |
|---|---|
| Polite (masu) | 痩せます（やせます） |
| Negative (nai) | 痩せない（やせない） |
| polite (masen) | 痩せません（やせません） |
| classical zu / nu | 痩せず・痩せぬ（やせず・やせぬ） |
| Past (ta) | 痩せた（やせた） |
| polite (mashita) | 痩せました（やせました） |
| Past negative (nakatta) | 痩せなかった（やせなかった） |
| polite (masen deshita) | 痩せませんでした（やせませんでした） |
| Te form | 痩せて（やせて） |
| Potential | 痩せられる（やせられる） |
| Passive | 痩せられる（やせられる） |
| Causative | 痩せさせる（やせさせる） |
| Causative passive | 痩せさせられる（やせさせられる） |
| Conditional (ba) | 痩せれば（やせれば） |
| tara | 痩せたら（やせたら） |
| Volitional | 痩せよう（やせよう） |
| polite (mashou) | 痩せましょう（やせましょう） |
| Imperative | 痩せろ（やせろ） |
Common forms generated by rule; see the senses for honorific or irregular usage.
Synonyms & antonyms
- Related減量げんりょうNeutralRefers to deliberate weight loss, as in 「減量に成功する」; also used for reductions in quantity or weight, stressing active weight control.
- Relatedやせ細るやせほそるWrittenWritten/formal prose word for wasting away, as in 「病でやせ細る」; stresses growing thin and frail, not just losing weight.
- Related痩せこけるやせこけるCasualColloquial for becoming skin-and-bones, as in 「頬が痩せこける」; a more extreme degree of thinness than ordinary 「痩せる」.
- RelatedスリムアップCasualA colloquial, Japanese-coined loanword for slimming and toning the body; common in beauty advertising.
- Antonym肥えるこえるNeutralThe opposite of 「痩せる」: to grow fat or put on weight, also of soil to become fertile, as in 「土地が肥える」.
Default to 「痩せる」 for becoming thin or losing weight. 「やせ細る」 is written prose for wasting away; 「痩せこける」 (colloquial) is skin-and-bones thin; 「減量」 is deliberate weight loss; 「スリムアップ」 is beauty slimming; 「肥える」 is the opposite, gaining weight.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese definitions
Kanji in this word
English equivalents
See also
