1.
moving away from, departure from, estrangement from
A suffix indicating a trend of moving away from or abandoning something. Often used to describe social phenomena.
〜離れ is a suffix attached to nouns to indicate a social trend of moving away from something.
Common examples
- 活字離れ: declining interest in reading/print
- 車離れ: declining car ownership
- テレビ離れ: declining TV viewership
- 酒離れ: declining alcohol consumption
- 結婚離れ: declining marriage rates
- 新聞離れ: declining newspaper readership
Common patterns
Usually followed by が進む (to advance/progress) to indicate the trend is growing.
Usage
This is derived from the verb 離れる (to separate, to leave), but as a suffix it's pronounced ばなれ due to rendaku.