後(うし)ろ髪(がみ)を引(ひ)かれる

うしろがみをひかれる
expression
to feel reluctant to leave; to be torn about leaving
emotion
1. to feel reluctant to leave; to feel a lingering attachment
To feel a strong pull of reluctance when leaving a place, person, or situation. The image is of having one's hair pulled from behind as one tries to walk away.
後(うし)ろ髪(がみ)を引(ひ)かれる思(おも)いで帰(かえ)った。
I went home feeling reluctant to leave.
楽(たの)しかった旅行(りょこう)も終(お)わり、後(うし)ろ髪(がみ)を引(ひ)かれながら空港(くうこう)に向(む)かった。
The fun trip was over, and I headed to the airport feeling reluctant to leave.
泣(な)いている子供(こども)を残(のこ)して出(で)かけるのは、後(うし)ろ髪(がみ)を引(ひ)かれる思(おも)いだった。
Leaving while my child was crying was heart-wrenching — I felt so reluctant to go.

A vivid idiom that literally describes the sensation of having one's hair pulled from behind as one tries to leave. The image perfectly captures the feeling of being emotionally 'pulled back' by attachment to something you must leave behind.

Common patterns

Most commonly appears in the patterns:

  • 後(うし)ろ髪(がみ)を引(ひ)かれる思(おも)い — with a feeling of reluctance
  • 後(うし)ろ髪(がみ)を引(ひ)かれながら — while feeling reluctant to leave

The expression is almost always used in the passive form (引(ひ)かれる), emphasizing that the feeling acts upon the person involuntarily.

Similar words

Related Words

Compare: 名残惜(なごりお)しい (reluctant to part)
Compare: 心残(こころのこ)り (regret about leaving something undone)
general
Added 2026.3.26 13:21 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
19500/19538_ushirogamiwohikareru