物悲しい
ものかなしい
i-adjective
melancholy; sad; wistful
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 物悲しい | 物悲しくない |
| Past | 物悲しかった | 物悲しくなかった |
| て form | 物悲しくて | 物悲しくなくて |
| Adverbial | 物悲しく | — |
| Conditional ば | 物悲しければ | 物悲しくなければ |
| Conditional たら | 物悲しかったら | 物悲しくなかったら |
1.
melancholy; sad; wistful; forlorn
A gentle, vague sadness without a specific cause. Describes a mood of quiet sorrow or wistfulness, often evoked by scenery, seasons, or the passage of time.
秋の夕暮れは物悲しい。
Autumn evenings are melancholy.
遠くから物悲しい笛の音が聞こえてきた。
The wistful sound of a flute could be heard from far away.
一人で散歩していると、なんだか物悲しい気持ちになった。
Walking alone, I somehow felt a sense of melancholy.
物悲しい describes a soft, atmospheric sadness — a 'somehow melancholy' feeling that hangs over a scene rather than a sharp, personal grief.
USAGE:
- An i-adjective formed from the prefix 物～ (which adds a vague 'somehow' or 'vaguely' nuance) + 悲しい (sad).
- Literary in tone; common in poetry, song lyrics, and atmospheric prose, less so in everyday conversation.
- Often describes scenes, sounds, melodies, or atmospheres rather than people directly.
- The variant reading 物悲しい also exists.
FORMS:
- Adverbial: 物悲しく
- Negative: 物悲しくない
- Past: 物悲しかった
COLLOCATIONS:
- 物悲しい調べ / 物悲しい旋律: a melancholy melody
- 物悲しい秋の夕暮れ: a wistful autumn dusk
- 物悲しい気持ちになる: to feel a vague sadness
SIMILAR ADJECTIVES:
- 物寂しい: lonely, desolate (uses the same 物～ prefix).
- 物憂い: listless, languid (also in the 物～ family).
- 哀しい / 悲しい: sad (the more direct, personal word).
- Linked culturally to the aesthetic of 哀れ (pathos) in classical Japanese literature.
Related Words
Related:
物悲しい