人 妻(ひとづま)

ひとづま

noun

married woman; another man's wife

1. married woman; another man's wife

A woman who is already married, seen from the outside — literally "someone else's wife." The word implies that she is off limits, and it appears mainly in discussions of attraction, affairs, and classical poetry rather than as a neutral way to say a woman is married.

彼女(かのじょ)はもう人妻(ひとづま)だ。

She's a married woman now.

人妻(ひとづま)に恋(こい)をしてしまった。

He ended up falling in love with a married woman.

古典(こてん)文学(ぶんがく)には人妻(ひとづま)への叶(かな)わぬ思(おも)いを詠(よ)んだ歌(うた)が多(おお)い。

Classical literature contains many poems about hopeless longing for a married woman.

人(ひと) (another person) + 妻(つま) (wife), with rendaku turning つま into づま.

Common collocations

人妻(ひとづま)になる: to become a married woman
人妻(ひとづま)と知(し)りながら: knowing full well she is married
人妻(ひとづま)への思(おも)い: feelings for a married woman

Register

Because of its "forbidden" overtone the word is also a genre label in adult media, so it is not a neutral substitute for "married woman." To state marital status plainly, say 結婚(けっこん)している女性(じょせい) or 既婚(きこん)女性(じょせい).

Similar words

既婚(きこん)女性(じょせい): married woman — the neutral, official term used on forms and in surveys
奥(おく)さん: someone's wife — the ordinary polite way to refer to another person's wife

Related Words

Compare: 奥(おく)さん (someone's wife)

general

Added 2026.8.20 11:40 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02

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