迷(まよ)い

まよい
noun
hesitation, doubt, indecision
emotion
1. hesitation, doubt, indecision
A state of being unsure or unable to decide. Mental wavering between options or courses of action.
迷(まよ)いを捨(す)てる。
To cast aside one's hesitation.
迷(まよ)いなく答(こた)えた。
I answered without hesitation.
心(こころ)に迷(まよ)いがあると、決断(けつだん)が遅(おく)れる。
When you have doubt in your heart, your decisions are delayed.
迷(まよ)いを断(た)ち切(き)って、新(あたら)しい道(みち)を選(えら)んだ。
I cut through my indecision and chose a new path.
2. delusion, illusion (Buddhist)
In Buddhist contexts, attachment to worldly things that clouds the mind and prevents enlightenment.
修行(しゅぎょう)によって迷(まよ)いから解(と)き放(はな)たれる。
Through spiritual practice, one is freed from worldly delusion.
人(ひと)は誰(だれ)でも迷(まよ)いの中(なか)に生(い)きている。
Everyone lives amid delusion.
Buddhist context
迷(まよ)いの世界(せかい)から悟(さと)りの世界(せかい)へ。
From the world of delusion to the world of enlightenment.

迷(まよ)い is the noun form of the verb 迷(まよ)う (to be lost, to hesitate).

Common collocations

Sense distinction

  • Sense 1 (everyday): mental wavering, being unable to decide
  • Sense 2 (Buddhist): spiritual delusion or attachment to the material world

Related Words

Related: 迷(まよ)う (verb form)
Compare: 逡巡(しゅんじゅん) (hesitation)
Compare: ぶれ (shake, blur, wavering, inconsistency)
general
Added 2026.3.25 23:38 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
19000/19437_mayoi