浮世(うきよ)

うきよ
noun
this transient world; the floating world
formalculturehistory
1. this world; this transient life
The everyday world and its troubles, seen as fleeting. From the Buddhist idea of the 'sorrowful world' (憂(う)き世(よ)), later written 浮世(うきよ).
浮世(うきよ)を忘(わす)れる。
To forget the cares of the world.
浮世(うきよ)の義理(ぎり)で断(ことわ)れなかった。
I couldn't refuse because of worldly obligations.
温泉(おんせん)に浸(つ)かっていると、浮世(うきよ)の悩(なや)みがどうでもよくなってくる。
Soaking in a hot spring, the worries of this world start to seem unimportant.
2. the floating world (of Edo-period pleasure)
The world of fashion, theatre and the pleasure quarters in Edo-period cities, as in 浮世絵(うきよえ) and 浮世草子(うきよぞうし).
浮世絵(うきよえ)は浮世(うきよ)の風俗(ふうぞく)を描(えが)いた。
Ukiyo-e depicted the customs of the floating world.
江戸(えど)の浮世(うきよ)は芝居(しばい)と流行(りゅうこう)の世界(せかい)だった。
The floating world of Edo was a world of theatre and fashion.
井原西鶴(いはらさいかく)は町人(ちょうにん)たちの浮世(うきよ)を生(い)き生(い)きと書(か)いた作家(さっか)として知(し)られる。
Ihara Saikaku is known as a writer who vividly portrayed the floating world of the townspeople.

Etymology

Originally 憂(う)き世(よ) (the sorrowful world). In the Edo period the spelling 浮世(うきよ) (floating world) took over, and the sense shifted toward the pleasures of the moment.

Common expressions

Usage

Sense 1 is literary or old-fashioned in speech; it survives mainly in set phrases.

general
Added 2026.10.12 22:43 · Revised 2026.10.12 22:46
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