1.
to drive; to spur on; to urge forward
To drive or urge an animal (especially a horse) or vehicle forward. A literary or formal word for propelling something.
馬を駆る。
Spur on a horse.
武士は愛馬を駆って敵陣に突撃した。
The samurai spurred his beloved horse and charged into the enemy lines.
スポーツカーを駆って海岸線を走った。
I drove a sports car along the coastline.
2.
to compel; to impel; to be driven by
To be urged or driven to action by an emotion or impulse. Often used in the passive form 駆られる to describe being overcome by a feeling.
好奇心に駆られた。
I was driven by curiosity.
不安に駆られて眠れなかった。
I was gripped by anxiety and couldn't sleep.
怒りに駆られて思わず声を荒げてしまったが、あとで後悔した。
Driven by anger, I couldn't help raising my voice, but I regretted it later.
A godan verb. Sense 2 (passive form 駆られる) is the more common modern usage.
SENSE 1 (drive/spur):
Literary and somewhat archaic for the horse-riding meaning, but still used for driving vehicles in a dynamic, literary style.
SENSE 2 (compel):
Very common in the passive pattern 「Xに駆られる」 (be driven by X).
COMMON PATTERNS:
- 好奇心に駆られる (be driven by curiosity)
- 不安に駆られる (be gripped by anxiety)
- 衝動に駆られる (be driven by impulse)
- 怒りに駆られる (be driven by anger)
- 焦りに駆られる (be driven by impatience)
SIMILAR WORDS:
駆ける (to run/dash) is intransitive, while 駆る is transitive. 追い立てる (to drive out/chase) implies forceful pushing, while 駆る focuses on the inner force or motivation.