しんどい

しんどい

i-adjective

tiring; exhausting; tough

informaldescriptive

Conjugation

	Affirmative	Negative
Present	しんどい	しんどくない
Past	しんどかった	しんどくなかった
て form	しんどくて	しんどくなくて
Adverbial	しんどく	—
Conditional ば	しんどければ	しんどくなければ
Conditional たら	しんどかったら	しんどくなかったら

1. tiring; exhausting; tough; hard

Describes physical or mental exhaustion, or a situation that requires difficult effort. Originally a Kansai dialect word that has spread throughout Japan.

今日(きょう)は仕事(しごと)がしんどかった。

Work was exhausting today.

階段(かいだん)を上(のぼ)るのがしんどい。

Climbing the stairs is tiring.

風邪(かぜ)で体(からだ)がしんどい。

My body feels exhausted from a cold.

Etymology

Originally a Kansai (関西(かんさい)) dialect word that has become commonly used throughout Japan.

Forms

しんどい (dictionary)
しんどかった (past)
しんどくて (te-form)
しんどさ (noun: the difficulty/tiredness)

Usage

しんどい can describe:

Physical exhaustion
Mental fatigue
Difficult situations
Illness-related weakness

しんどい often implies a deeper exhaustion than simply 疲(つか)れた, suggesting the effort is draining one's energy or the situation is difficult to handle.

Similar words

疲(つか)れた - tired (general)
だるい - sluggish, heavy (body feels heavy)
きつい - tough, demanding (work or situation)
大変(たいへん) - difficult, hard (more formal)

Register

Casual. Very common in everyday conversation.

Related Words

Synonym: きつい (tough, demanding)

Synonym: だるい (sluggish, heavy)

Compare: 大変(たいへん) (difficult, hard)

general

Added 2026.1.19 16:26 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

07000/07411_shindoi