WORD DETAIL
溜息
ためいき
Examples
Included kanji
Study notes
1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning
- Structure: 溜息 (ためいき) is a noun for a sigh released through worry, fatigue, disappointment, or another emotion.
- Basic usage: It describes someone sighing at a difficult problem or a small sigh escaping involuntarily.
- 難しい問題を前に彼は溜息をついた。 — Faced with the difficult problem, he sighed.
- 窓の外を見ながら小さな溜息が漏れた。 — A small sigh escaped as someone looked out the window.
2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions
- Sighing and a sigh escaping
- 溜息をつく presents the person sighing, while 溜息が漏れる emphasizes a sigh escaping on its own.