凹ます
へこます
godan verb (transitive)
to dent; to make concave; to bring (someone) down emotionally
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 凹ます | 凹まさない |
| Present polite | 凹まします | 凹ましません |
| Past | 凹ました | 凹まさなかった |
| Past polite | 凹ましました | 凹ましませんでした |
| て form | 凹まして | 凹まさなくて |
| ている present | 凹ましている | 凹ましていない |
| ている polite | 凹ましています | 凹ましていません |
| ている past | 凹ましていた | 凹ましていなかった |
| ている past polite | 凹ましていました | 凹ましていませんでした |
| Conditional ば | 凹ませば | 凹まさなければ |
| Conditional たら | 凹ましたら | 凹まさなかったら |
| Volitional | 凹まそう | — |
| Volitional polite | 凹ましましょう | — |
| Potential | 凹ませる | 凹ませない |
| Passive | 凹まされる | 凹まされない |
| Causative | 凹まさせる | 凹まさせない |
| Imperative | 凹ませ | 凹ますな |
1.
to dent; to make a dent in (something); to push in
To physically deform something by pushing or striking it inward, creating a concave area. The transitive counterpart of 凹む.
ボールが当たって車の屋根を凹ました。
The ball hit the car and dented the roof.
缶を足で踏んで凹ました。
I stomped on the can and crushed it flat.
自転車を壁にぶつけて、フレームを凹ましてしまった。
I crashed my bike into the wall and ended up denting the frame.
2.
to make (someone) feel down; to dishearten; to take down a peg
To cause someone to feel discouraged, embarrassed, or psychologically deflated — often by criticism, defeat, or a sharp comeback. The transitive counterpart of 凹む in its emotional sense.
先輩に言い返されて、彼を凹ますことができなかった。
My senior fired back at me, and I couldn't take him down a peg.
あんな鋭い反論をされて、すっかり彼を凹ませてしまった。
Hit with such a sharp counterargument, I completely deflated him.
そんな自慢話ばかりしていると、誰かに凹まされるよ。
If you keep boasting like that, someone's going to take you down a peg.
Used in a passive form here (凹まされる).
凹ます is the transitive counterpart of 凹む. The pair has both a literal sense (causing/being a dent) and a figurative sense (causing/feeling emotional deflation).
TRANSITIVITY PAIR:
- Transitive: ボールが屋根を凹ます (The ball dents the roof)
- Intransitive: 屋根が凹む (The roof gets dented)
FIGURATIVE USE:
- Sense 2 is informal/colloquial. The image is of someone's confidence being "dented" — often by a witty retort, defeat in argument, or harsh criticism.
- Common pattern: 誰かを凹ます (to bring someone down emotionally). Often appears in sports/competition narratives.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 缶を凹ます: to dent / crush a can
- 車を凹ます: to dent a car
- 鼻っ柱を凹ます: to take down a peg (literally "dent the nose pillar" — the pride)
- 彼を凹ましてやった: I really took him down a peg
RELATED TERMS:
- 凹む: intransitive counterpart — to be dented; to feel down
- へこむ is also commonly used as a slang verb among younger speakers for feeling depressed or emotionally low.
- 凹み: the noun (a dent)
- 潰す: to crush, smash (broader, more violent destruction)
- 折る: to break (a different kind of damage)
ORTHOGRAPHY NOTE:
The kanji 凹 is one of the simplest pictographic kanji — its shape literally depicts a concave indentation. In casual writing, the verb is often written in hiragana (へこます) for readability.