冷(ひ)や水(みず)

ひやみず
noun
cold water; damper (figurative)
idiom
1. cold water; something that dampens enthusiasm
Cold water, now mostly in fixed expressions: throwing cold water on a plan or mood, or an old person overdoing something.
冷(ひ)や水(みず)を浴(あ)びる。
To be doused with cold water.
彼(かれ)の一言(ひとこと)が盛(も)り上(あ)がった雰囲気(ふんいき)に冷(ひ)や水(みず)を浴(あ)びせた。
His remark threw cold water on the lively mood.
七十(ななじゅう)を過(す)ぎてフルマラソンなんて、年寄(としよ)りの冷(ひ)や水(みず)だと笑(わら)われた。
People laughed that running a full marathon past seventy was an old man overdoing it.

Usually figurative today; for drinking water, 冷(つめ)たい水(みず) or お冷(ひ)や is the everyday word.

Common expressions

  • 冷(ひ)や水(みず)を浴(あ)びせる: to throw cold water on (a plan, a mood)
  • 冷(ひ)や水(みず)を浴(あ)びる: to be doused with cold water; to have one's hopes dampened
  • 年寄(としよ)りの冷(ひ)や水(みず): an old person doing something too strenuous for their age (literally, an old person bathing in cold water)

Similar words

Related Words

Compare: 冷水(れいすい) (cold water (written and technical)
general
Added 2026.10.3 9:38 · Revised 2026.10.3 9:42
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