見舞われる
みまわれる
verb-ichidan
to be struck by; to be afflicted with (disaster, misfortune, illness)
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 見舞われる | 見舞われない |
| Present polite | 見舞われます | 見舞われません |
| Past | 見舞われた | 見舞われなかった |
| Past polite | 見舞われました | 見舞われませんでした |
| て form | 見舞われて | 見舞われなくて |
| ている present | 見舞われている | 見舞われていない |
| ている polite | 見舞われています | 見舞われていません |
| ている past | 見舞われていた | 見舞われていなかった |
| ている past polite | 見舞われていました | 見舞われていませんでした |
| Conditional ば | 見舞われれば | 見舞われなければ |
| Conditional たら | 見舞われたら | 見舞われなかったら |
| Volitional | 見舞われよう | — |
| Volitional polite | 見舞われましょう | — |
| Potential | 見舞われられる | 見舞われられない |
| Causative | 見舞われさせる | 見舞われさせない |
| Imperative | 見舞われろ | 見舞われるな |
1.
to be struck by; to be afflicted with (a disaster, misfortune, illness, or unwelcome event)
The passive form of 見舞う ("to inquire after, to visit a sick person; to befall"). In its most common modern use, 見舞われる means to suffer or be hit by something unpleasant — typhoons, earthquakes, accidents, illness, financial troubles. Almost always used with {に} marking the misfortune.
台風に見舞われた。
We were hit by a typhoon.
その町は大雨による洪水に見舞われた。
The town was struck by flooding from heavy rain.
帰国の途中、思わぬトラブルに見舞われた。
On my way home, I ran into unexpected trouble.
地震と津波という二つの災害に見舞われ、復興には長い時間がかかった。
Struck by the dual disasters of an earthquake and tsunami, the recovery took a long time.
見舞われる is the passive form of 見舞う and is by far the more common form in everyday and journalistic Japanese when describing being hit by misfortune. The pattern is essentially fixed: [victim/place]が[misfortune]に見舞われる.
GRAMMATICAL PATTERN:
- ～が～に見舞われる: [subject] is struck by [misfortune]
- 町が台風に見舞われた: "The town was struck by a typhoon."
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 台風に見舞われる: to be hit by a typhoon
- 地震に見舞われる: to be struck by an earthquake
- 病に見舞われる: to fall ill (literary)
- 不幸に見舞われる: to be visited by misfortune
- トラブルに見舞われる: to run into trouble
- 不景気に見舞われる: to be hit by an economic downturn
- 寒波に見舞われる: to be hit by a cold snap
SIMILAR / RELATED TERMS:
- 遭う: to encounter, to meet with (a misfortune); more colloquial. 事故に遭う ("to be in an accident")
- 襲われる: to be attacked, to be assailed; stronger, often used for both attacks and sudden physical sensations (不安に襲われる "to be overcome with anxiety")
- 被る: to suffer (formal/literary; takes the misfortune as direct object: 被害を被る)
USAGE NOTES:
- 見舞う itself originally meant "to inquire after, to visit (a sick person)," and that older sense survives in お{見舞い} ("a sympathy visit / get-well gift"). The modern "to befall" sense was extended from there: misfortune "visits" the victim.
- The active form 見舞う in the "to befall" sense (e.g., 台風が町を見舞った) is heard mainly in literary or news writing; the passive 見舞われる is far more common in speech.
- Almost always negative in connotation. To say someone was "visited" by a positive event, use 訪れる or 恵まれる instead.