生死(せいし)

せいし
noun
life and death
abstract
1. life and death
The states of being alive and dead; matters of life and death.
生死(せいし)の問題(もんだい)だ。
It's a matter of life and death.
彼(かれ)の生死(せいし)が分(わ)からない。
Whether he is alive or dead is unknown.
生死(せいし)をかけた戦(たたか)いだった。
It was a battle with life and death at stake.
生死(せいし)の境(さかい)をさまよった後(あと)、助(たす)かった。
After hovering between life and death, he was saved.
行方不明者(ゆくえふめいしゃ)の生死(せいし)は何日(なんにち)たっても不明(ふめい)のままだった。
Whether the missing person was alive or dead remained unknown no matter how many days passed.

生死(せいし) combines 生(せい) (life) and 死(し) (death). Used when life and death are at stake, or when someone's survival is in question.

Common expressions

  • 生死(せいし)をかける: to stake one's life, to risk life and death
  • 生死(せいし)の境(さかい)をさまよう: to hover between life and death
  • 生死(せいし)不明(ふめい): unknown whether alive or dead
  • 生死(せいし)にかかわる: to be a matter of life and death
  • 生死(せいし)の問題(もんだい): a life-and-death matter

Register

This is a serious, somewhat literary word. It appears frequently in news reports about disasters, accidents, and missing persons, as well as in dramatic or literary contexts. In everyday conversation, people are more likely to say 命(いのち)にかかわる (to concern one's life) for less dramatic situations.

Pronunciation

Read せいし in ordinary use. The reading しょうじ belongs to Buddhist vocabulary, where it means the cycle of birth and death.

Related Words

Compare: 死活(しかつ) (life and death)
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Added 2026.1.16 17:12 · Revised 2026.10.18 9:29
05500/05565_seishi