吾輩(わがはい)

わがはい
pronoun
I (archaic, pompous)
person
1. I; me (archaic, pompous)
An old first-person pronoun once used by men of standing; today heard only in fiction or as a joke, where it marks a speaker as grand or old-fashioned.
吾輩(わがはい)は猫(ねこ)である。
I am a cat.
吾輩(わがはい)に任(まか)せたまえ。
Leave it to me.
漫画(まんが)の中(なか)で、偉(えら)そうな博士(はかせ)が「吾輩(わがはい)の発明(はつめい)を見(み)よ」と叫(さけ)んだ。
In the manga, a pompous professor shouted, "Behold my invention!"

Best known from the opening line of 夏目漱石(なつめそうせき)'s novel 吾輩(わがはい)は猫(ねこ)である (I Am a Cat, 1905), in which a nameless cat narrates with this grand pronoun; the comedy lies in the mismatch.

Similar words

  • 我(わ)が: my, our (attributive, literary)
  • 拙者(せっしゃ): I (samurai speech in period drama, humble)
  • わし: I (old men in fiction and some dialects)

Related Words

Compare: 我(わ)が〜 (my, our)
general
Added 2026.10.3 9:38 · Revised 2026.10.3 9:42
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