報われない
むくわれない
adjective
unrewarded; unrecognized; futile
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 報われない | 報われなくない |
| Past | 報われなかった | 報われなくなかった |
| て form | 報われなくて | 報われなくなくて |
| Adverbial | 報われなく | — |
| Conditional ば | 報われなければ | 報われなくなければ |
| Conditional たら | 報われなかったら | 報われなくなかったら |
1.
unrewarded; unrecognized; going unappreciated
Describes effort, devotion, or hard work that does not receive the recognition or reward it deserves. The negative passive form of 報いる (to reward).
報われない努力はない。
No effort goes unrewarded.
どんなに頑張っても報われない気がする。
No matter how hard I try, I feel like it goes unrecognized.
長年の献身が報われない状況に彼女は疲れていた。
She was tired of a situation where years of devotion went unappreciated.
2.
futile; in vain; fruitless
Describes actions or attempts that produce no positive result, emphasizing the emotional sense of wasted effort.
報われない恋ほど辛いものはない。
There is nothing more painful than unrequited love.
報われないとわかっていても挑戦し続けた。
Even knowing it was futile, I kept on trying.
報われない片思いを何年も続けるのはやめたほうがいい。
You should stop carrying on with unrequited feelings for years.
Negative passive form of 報いる (to reward/repay). While grammatically derived, 報われない is extremely common as a set expression and functions almost as an independent adjective, especially in the collocation 報われない努力.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 報われない努力: unrewarded effort
- 報われない恋: unrequited love
- 報われない思い: unreciprocated feelings
- 報われない苦労: unappreciated hardship
USAGE:
Often used with the positive counterpart 報われる (to be rewarded) in motivational contexts: 努力は必ず報われる (effort is always rewarded). The negative form carries a tone of resignation or emotional pain.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 無駄な: futile, useless — neutral and objective; lacks the emotional weight of unrecognized sacrifice
- 徒労: wasted effort — formal; emphasizes the labor being pointless
- 甲斐がない: not worth it, unrewarding — focuses on the lack of benefit from an action