1.
anxious; restless; on edge; unable to relax
To be so worried or preoccupied about something that one cannot focus on anything else or feel at ease. Describes a state of nervous anticipation.
試験の結果が気が気でない。
I can't stop worrying about the exam results.
子供が帰ってこないので、気が気でなかった。
My child hadn't come home, so I was on edge.
面接の合否が出るまで、気が気でなくて何も手につかなかった。
Until the interview results came out, I was so anxious that I couldn't focus on anything.
Literally 'the mind is not the mind' — one's mental state is so disturbed by worry that it doesn't feel like one's normal self. This idiom vividly captures the experience of being consumed by anxiety while waiting for something.
USAGE:
Almost always used in negative situations involving waiting or uncertainty. The pattern ～が気が気でない is standard, where ～ is the source of anxiety. Also appears as 気が気じゃない in casual speech.
VARIANT:
- 気が気じゃない — casual spoken form
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 心配でたまらない — unbearably worried; more direct expression of worry
- そわそわする — to be restless, fidgety; describes visible physical restlessness
- 落ち着かない — unable to calm down; more general restlessness
- 気が気でない is more idiomatic and vivid than these alternatives