心・感情・心理

彼かれは無意識むいしきのうちに足あしを揺ゆらしていた。

He was jiggling his leg without being aware of it.

Usage 無意識のうちに is the phrase to know — doing something without noticing. As a psychological term it is the unconscious mind. Not 意識を失う, which is losing consciousness physically.

Remember it 無 (without) + 意識 (consciousness) → with no awareness behind it.

潜在意識せんざいいしきが夢ゆめとなって現あらわれることがある。

The subconscious sometimes surfaces in the form of dreams.

Usage A psychology term, and the deeper layer: 潜在意識に働きかける. Compare 無意識, which describes acting unawares; 潜在意識 names the part of the mind that stays out of reach yet still steers behaviour. 潜在 alone means latent — 潜在能力 is untapped ability.

Remember it 潜 (submerged) + 在 (present) + 意識 (consciousness) → consciousness present but submerged.

直感ちょっかんを信しんじて、そのチャンスを掴つかんだ。

Trusting her intuition, she seized the opportunity.

Usage 直感的に is the common adverb, 直感が働く for intuition kicking in. Written 直観 in philosophy for intuition as a mode of knowing; 直感 is the everyday gut feeling.

Remember it 直 (direct) + 感 (feel) → feeling it directly, with no reasoning in between.

衝動しょうどうのままに行動こうどうしてはいけない。

You mustn't act purely on impulse.

Usage 衝動買い is impulse buying — the phrase most learners meet first. Also 衝動的な行動 and 衝動を抑える. The force is emotional and sudden, not a considered 意志.

Remember it 衝 (collide, thrust) + 動 (move) → a shove that sets you moving.

過去かこへの執着しゅうじゃくを捨すてれば楽らくになれる。

Let go of your attachment to the past and life gets easier.

Usage Read しゅうちゃく as well as しゅうじゃく. 執着する, 執着心, 過去への執着. Generally negative — clinging past the point of sense — and a central term in Buddhism.

Remember it 執 (grip) + 着 (stick to) → gripping and refusing to come unstuck.

友人ゆうじんの成功せいこうに嫉妬しっとを感かんじたが、素直すなおに祝福しゅくふくした。

I felt jealous of my friend's success, but congratulated her sincerely.

Usage 嫉妬する, 嫉妬深い for a jealous streak. Covers both romantic jealousy and resentment of someone's achievements, and is uglier than 羨望.

Remember it 嫉 (resent one better off) + 妬 (be jealous of) → both characters carry the 女 radical and the same grudge.

彼女かのじょの才能さいのうは周囲しゅういの羨望せんぼうの的まととなった。

Her talent made her the envy of everyone around her.

Usage 羨望の的 — the object of everyone's envy — is the set phrase. Milder than 嫉妬: wanting what another has, without necessarily wishing them ill. The verb 羨む (うらやむ) is the plain form.

Remember it 羨 (covet) + 望 (gaze at, hope for) → gazing at what someone else has.

子供こどものころから音楽家おんがくかへの憧あこれがあった。

Ever since childhood I had a longing to be a musician.

Usage 〜に憧れる is the verb: to look up to and long for. Positive throughout — aspiring to something better — which sets it apart from both 嫉妬 and 羨望. 憧れの人 is the person you idolise.

Remember it 憧 carries the 心 radical (heart) beside 童 (child) → a heart still looking ahead with a child's wonder.

長年ながねんの苦労くろうを経へて、諦観ていかんの境地きょうちに達たっした。

After years of hardship he reached a state of serene acceptance.

Usage Not simply giving up: seeing a situation clearly and accepting it, with a philosophical, Buddhist colour. 諦観の境地. The everyday 諦める is plain resignation, without the insight.

Remember it 諦 (discern the truth of) + 観 (view) → seeing a thing through and looking at it steadily.

過去かこの過あやまちへの深ふかい悔恨かいこんが彼かれを苦くるしめた。

Deep remorse over a past mistake tormented him.

Usage Written, literary, and heavier than 後悔: 悔恨の念にかられる. The regret is lasting and usually about something that can no longer be put right.

Remember it 悔 (regret) + 恨 (bear a grudge) → regret that has turned into a grudge against yourself.

教会きょうかいで懺悔ざんげをして、心こころが軽かるくなった。

He made his confession at the church and felt lighter for it.

Usage Read ざんげ in the Christian sense and さんげ in the Buddhist one. 懺悔する is to confess and repent before God or the Buddha — religious, unlike 告白, which is any admission.

Remember it 懺 (repent) + 悔 (regret) → repenting and regretting, said aloud to something higher.

科学かがく的てきな懐疑かいぎの精神せいしんが新あたらしい発見はっけんを生うむ。

A spirit of scientific scepticism is what produces new discoveries.

Usage 懐疑的 is the usual adjective and 懐疑主義 the philosophical school. Intellectual doubt held as a stance, where 疑い and 疑問 are ordinary doubts about a particular thing.

Remember it 懐 (hold in the breast) + 疑 (doubt) → carrying the doubt around with you.

彼女かのじょは自分じぶんが正ただしいという確信かくしんを持もっていた。

She was convinced that she was in the right.

Usage 確信する, 確信を持つ, 確信に満ちた. 確信犯 is someone who offends believing they are morally right. Far stronger than 確認する, which is merely checking something.

Remember it 確 (certain) + 信 (believe) → belief that has hardened into certainty.

どんな困難こんなんがあっても、彼かれは信念しんねんを貫つらぬいた。

However great the difficulties, he held to his convictions.

Usage 信念を持つ, 信念を貫く — to hold a conviction and see it through. Broader than 信仰, which is religious faith; 信念 is personal and need not involve religion at all.

Remember it 信 (believe) + 念 (a thought held in mind) → a belief you keep thinking.

長ながい夢ゆめを見みた後あとは、現実感げんじつかんが薄うすれることがある。

After a long dream, your sense of reality can go thin.

Usage Almost always in the negative: 現実感がない, 現実感が薄い — when something is happening but does not feel real. Common after shock, jet lag or a vivid dream.

Remember it 現実 (reality) + 感 (feeling) → the feeling that what is around you is real.

生いきる意味いみを見みつけられず、虚無きょむ感かんに包つつまれた。

Unable to find a reason to live, he was enveloped in a sense of emptiness.

Usage 虚無感 is the everyday form — a feeling that nothing means anything. 虚無主義 is nihilism as a philosophy. Bleaker than 空しい, which is ordinary emptiness or futility.

Remember it 虚 (hollow) + 無 (nothing) → hollow, with nothing in it.

新あたらしい職場しょくばでなかなか馴染なじめず、疎外感そがいかんを覚おぼえた。

Unable to settle into the new workplace, she felt shut out.

Usage 疎外感を覚える / 疎外感を感じる — the sense of not belonging to the group around you. 疎外 by itself is alienation in the sociological sense, as in 労働疎外.

Remember it 疎 (distant, sparse) + 外 (outside) + 感 (feeling) → the feeling of being kept at a distance, outside.

医師いしとしての使命感しめいかんが彼女かのじょを支ささえていた。

A sense of mission as a doctor was what sustained her.

Usage 使命感を持つ, 使命感に燃える — to be fired by a sense of duty. 使命 alone is the mission itself; the 感 makes it the feeling of being charged with it.

Remember it 使 (send on a task) + 命 (command, fate) + 感 (feeling) → feeling you were sent here to do this.

背せが低ひくいことに劣等感れっとうかんを感かんじていた時期じきがあった。

There was a time when I felt inferior about being short.

Usage 劣等感を持つ, 劣等感を克服する. The standard translation is inferiority complex, though in Japanese it is used far more loosely than the clinical term. コンプレックス is the common katakana equivalent.

Remember it 劣 (inferior) + 等 (rank) + 感 (feeling) → feeling yourself a rank below.

他人たにんより優すぐれていると思おもい、優越感ゆうえつかんに浸ひたる人ひともいる。

Some people think themselves better than others and bask in a sense of superiority.

Usage 優越感に浸る — to steep yourself in it — is the usual collocation, and it is rarely a compliment. The exact opposite of 劣等感, and the two are often discussed together.

Remember it 優 (superior) + 越 (surpass) + 感 (feeling) → feeling yourself above and past everyone else.

好すきな仕事しごとをすることで充足感じゅうそくかんが得えられる。

Doing work you love brings a sense of fulfilment.

Usage 充足感を得る, 充足感に満たされる. Close to 満足感, but 満足感 is satisfaction with a particular outcome while 充足感 is a fuller, quieter sense of having enough.

Remember it 充 (fill) + 足 (suffice) + 感 (feeling) → the feeling of being filled to enough.

基本的きほんてきな生活せいかつの充足じゅうそくが幸福こうふくの基盤きばんとなる。

The sufficiency of basic living conditions is the foundation of happiness.

Usage 充足する, 需要を充足する, 自己充足 for self-sufficiency. The plain state of being adequately supplied — where 充足感 is how that state feels from inside.

Remember it 充 (fill) + 足 (suffice) → filled up to the point of enough.

栄養えいようの欠乏けつぼうは健康けんこうに悪影響あくえいきょうを与あたえる。

A deficiency of nutrients does real harm to your health.

Usage Medical and economic: ビタミン欠乏, 物資の欠乏, 欠乏する. The direct opposite of 充足. 不足 is the everyday word for a shortage; 欠乏 is graver and more clinical.

Remember it 欠 (lack) + 乏 (scarce) → lacking and scarce, both at once.

この市場しじょうはすでに飽和ほうわ状態じょうたいに達たっしている。

This market has already reached saturation.

Usage 飽和状態 is the phrase to know — saturated, with no room for more. Chemistry uses 飽和溶液; business uses 市場が飽和する. 飽 also gives 飽きる, to get tired of something.

Remember it 飽 (sated, full) + 和 (balance) → so full that it settles and takes no more.

何事なにごとも中庸ちゅうようを守まもることが大切たいせつだと言いわれている。

It is said that keeping to the golden mean matters in everything.

Usage A Confucian idea — 中庸を守る, 中庸の徳 — and the name of one of the Four Books. Neither excess nor deficiency. Its opposite in argument is 極端.

Remember it 中 (middle) + 庸 (ordinary, unexcessive) → holding the middle and refusing the extremes.

彼女かのじょは芸術家げいじゅつかの気質かたぎを持もち、細部さいぶにまでこだわる性格せいかくだ。

She has an artist's temperament and a nature that cares about the smallest details.

Usage Two readings worth separating. かたぎ is the character of a trade or type — 職人気質, the craftsman's temperament. きしつ is an individual's inborn disposition, closer to 性質.

Remember it 気 (spirit, air) + 質 (substance) → the substance of someone's spirit.

緊張きんちょうすると髪かみを触さわる癖くせがあることに、友人ゆうじんに指摘してきされた。

A friend pointed out that I have a habit of touching my hair when nervous.

Usage 癖がある, 悪い癖, 癖になる — to become a habit. Compound forms are everywhere: 口癖 for a verbal tic, 寝癖 for bed hair. Unlike 習慣, which is a chosen routine, a 癖 is something you do without meaning to.

Remember it 癖 carries the 疒 radical used for illness, framing the habit as something that has you rather than something you keep.

彼かれの発言はつげんの意図いとが読よめず、周囲しゅういは困惑こんわくした。

Unable to read the intention behind his remark, everyone was at a loss.

Usage 意図的 is the adjective — deliberate, on purpose. 意図を読む, 出題の意図. Distinguish 動機, the underlying motive: 意図 is what you meant to do, 動機 is why you wanted to.

Remember it 意 (mind, intent) + 図 (plan, scheme) → the plan behind what you did.

衝動的しょうどうてきな買い物かいものを繰くり返かえすことで、財政ざいせい状況じょうきょうが悪化あっかした。

Repeated impulse purchases made his finances worse.

Usage 衝動的に行動する, 衝動買い for impulse buying. The opposite pole is 計画的. Note 衝動を抑える — to hold the impulse down — where the noun 衝動 stands alone.

Remember it 衝 (thrust) + 動 (move) + 的 (‑ish) → moved by whatever shoves you.

目標もくひょうを達成たっせいするためには、計画的けいかくてきに時間じかんを管理かんりすることが欠かかせない。

Achieving a goal calls for managing your time systematically.

Usage 計画的に進める, 計画的な貯蓄. Opposed to 衝動的 and to 行き当たりばったり, doing things as they come. In law, 計画的犯行 is a premeditated offence.

Remember it 計 (measure) + 画 (draw up) + 的 → measured out and drawn up in advance.

ボランティアは命令めいれいではなく自発的じはつてきな意志いしで活動かつどうすることに意義いぎがある。

Volunteering means something because it is done by free choice, not by order.

Usage 自発的に行動する, 自発性. Set against 受動的 and 強制的. In chemistry and physics the same word covers spontaneous processes, as in 自発的な反応.

Remember it 自 (self) + 発 (arise) + 的 → arising from yourself, not from an order.

受動的じゅどうてきに情報じょうほうを受うけ入いれるだけでなく、批判的ひはんてきに考かんがえる習慣しゅうかんが重要じゅうようだ。

What matters is not just taking information in passively but getting into the habit of thinking critically.

Usage 受動的な学習, 受動喫煙 for passive smoking. The opposites are 能動的 and 自発的. The grammar term for the passive voice is 受動態.

Remember it 受 (receive) + 動 (move) + 的 → moved by what you receive rather than by yourself.

不当ふとうな要求ようきゅうには毅然きぜんと拒否きょひすることも社会人しゃかいじんとして大切たいせつなスキルだ。

Firmly refusing unreasonable demands is an important skill for any working adult.

Usage 拒否する, 拒否権 for a veto, 受け取り拒否 for refusing delivery. More formal and more absolute than 断る, which is how you decline an invitation.

Remember it 拒 (repel) + 否 (deny) → pushing it away and saying no.

権威けんいへの盲目的もうもくてきな服従ふくじゅうは、歴史れきしの中なかで多おおくの悲劇ひげきを生うんできた。

Blind obedience to authority has produced many tragedies in history.

Usage 服従する, 服従を強いる, 絶対服従. The opposite of 反抗. It carries a whiff of submission against one's will — 従う is the neutral word for simply following.

Remember it 服 (submit to) + 従 (follow) → submitting and following.

青年期せいねんきは親おやや社会しゃかいに反抗はんこうすることで、自己じこアイデンティティを確立かくりつしていく時期じきだ。

Adolescence is when people establish their identity by rebelling against parents and society.

Usage 反抗する, 反抗期 for the rebellious phase of adolescence, 反抗的な態度. The counterpart to 服従. 抵抗 is resistance to a force; 反抗 is defiance of an authority.

Remember it 反 (against) + 抗 (oppose) → set against and pushing back.

固定観念こていかんねんに縛しばられず、柔軟じゅうなんな発想はっそうで問題もんだいに取とり組くむことが革新かくしんの鍵かぎだ。

Tackling problems flexibly, free of stereotypes, is the key to innovation.

Usage 固定観念を打ち破る, 固定観念に縛られる. Close to 先入観, but a 固定観念 is set hard and usually shared across a society — the notion of what a job or a gender is supposed to be.

Remember it 固定 (fixed) + 観念 (notion) → a notion fixed in place.

先入観せんにゅうかんを持もたずに話はなしを聞きくことが、公平こうへいな判断はんだんの第一歩だいいっぽだ。

Listening without preconceptions is the first step to judging fairly.

Usage 先入観を捨てる, 先入観を持たずに, 先入観にとらわれる. Neutral in a way 偏見 is not: a 先入観 is simply formed before you had the facts, and may turn out right.

Remember it 先 (before) + 入 (enter) + 観 (view) → the view that got in first.