ぼける
ぼける
verb (ichidan)
to become senile
See also:
ボケ (noun form)
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | ぼける | ぼけない |
| Present polite | ぼけます | ぼけません |
| Past | ぼけた | ぼけなかった |
| Past polite | ぼけました | ぼけませんでした |
| て form | ぼけて | ぼけなくて |
| ている present | ぼけている | ぼけていない |
| ている polite | ぼけています | ぼけていません |
| ている past | ぼけていた | ぼけていなかった |
| ている past polite | ぼけていました | ぼけていませんでした |
| Conditional ば | ぼければ | ぼけなければ |
| Conditional たら | ぼけたら | ぼけなかったら |
| Volitional | ぼけよう | — |
| Volitional polite | ぼけましょう | — |
| Potential | ぼけられる | ぼけられない |
| Passive | ぼけられる | ぼけられない |
| Causative | ぼけさせる | ぼけさせない |
| Imperative | ぼけろ | ぼけるな |
1.
to become senile
to become senile; to have one's mental faculties decline with age
2.
to be blurred
for an image or photo to be out of focus or blurred
ぼける is an intransitive ichidan verb with distinct meanings related to mental decline, visual blur, and comedic behavior.
Transitivity: Intransitive (自動詞). The transitive form is ぼかす (to blur, to obscure).
Writing
- Can be written as 惚ける or 呆ける, but hiragana is most common
Sense 1 - senility
Sense 2 - photography
- Describes out-of-focus images
- "Bokeh" in photography terminology comes from this word
- Can be intentional (artistic blur) or unintentional (failed focus)
Sense 3 - comedy
- In 漫才 (manzai), the ぼけ says absurd things while the ツッコミ reacts
- Also means to feign ignorance in general conversation
Common collocations
Register: Neutral. Sense 1 may be considered somewhat direct when referring to actual senility.
Related Words
Related:
時差ボケ (jet lag)