ぐうの音も出ない

• 読み: ぐうのねもでない
• ローマ字: gū no ne mo denai
• 漢字の分解: ぐう (the smallest possible sound) + の (possessive) + 音 (sound) + も (even) + 出ない (doesn't come out) → even the tiniest sound won't come out
• 発音: /guː.no.ne.mo.de.na.i/

意味

Completely speechless, unable to argue back — so thoroughly defeated in an argument that you cannot even make a sound.

An expressive idiom describing total rhetorical defeat. When someone presents an argument so airtight or a criticism so accurate that there is absolutely nothing to say in response, that is ぐうの音も出ない. The ぐう represents the smallest possible utterance — even that tiny sound cannot escape. It is used to acknowledge being completely outmatched in a debate or confronted with an undeniable truth.

例文

1. 正論すぎてぐうの音も出なかった。
2. データ出されたらぐうの音も出ないよ。
3. あの反論にはぐうの音も出ないわ。

使い方ガイド

場面: debates, everyday conversation, social media

トーン: impressed, defeated

正しい言い方

• その指摘にはぐうの音も出ないわ (I have absolutely nothing to say to that point)
• ぐうの音も出ない正論だね (That's an argument so right you can't even talk back)

避ける言い方

• 論破して「ぐうの音も出ないでしょ」と追い打ちするのは性格が悪い (Winning an argument and adding 'you have nothing to say, do you?' is mean-spirited)

よくある間違い

• Mispronouncing or misspelling ぐう — it is not a common word outside this idiom
• Using it in formal writing — it is a conversational expression better suited to casual contexts

起源と歴史

An old Japanese expression where ぐう represents the smallest possible sound one could make. The idiom means being so thoroughly silenced that even this tiny sound cannot come out. Used in Japanese for centuries.

文化的背景

時代: Long-standing idiom, still widely used

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal

地域メモ: Used across all of Japan. A classic expression that appears in everyday conversation, manga, and online discussions.