引くわ

Japanese Slang Japanese ★★★★ 4/5 casual ひくわhiku wa

読み ひくわ

ローマ字 hiku wa

漢字の分解 引 (pull/withdraw) + わ (emphasis particle)

発音 /çi.ku wa/

意味

I'm pulling back — being put off, turned off, or repulsed by something cringe, inappropriate, or socially unacceptable.

Using the verb 引く (to pull/withdraw) in its figurative sense of emotionally recoiling, 引くわ describes the instinct to distance yourself from something off-putting. The わ particle adds emotional emphasis and a sense of finality — it is not a question or invitation for discussion, but a declaration: 'that's a no from me.' It covers a wide spectrum from mild cringe to genuine disgust, and is a key vocabulary item in Japan's highly attuned social awareness culture.

例文

初デートでいきなり年収聞いてくるの引くわ。
酔って上司にタメ口使ってたの見て正直引くわ。
自分の自慢話ばっかりする人、さすがに引くわ。

使い方ガイド

場面: friends, casual conversation, social media

トーン: judgemental, repulsed

正しい言い方

食べ放題で皿10枚とか引くわ。 (Ten plates at the all-you-can-eat? I'm pulling back.)
既読無視されたからって30回電話するのは引くわ。 (Calling 30 times because you got left on read — that's a hard no.)

避ける言い方

引くわは相手に直接言うとかなりキツい (Saying 引くわ directly to someone's face is quite harsh — it's often said behind their back or as a reaction to a story)

よくある間違い

Using 引くわ too lightly — it carries real social judgement and can hurt feelings if said directly to someone
Confusing the わ particle with the feminine わ in older Japanese; in modern casual speech, 引くわ is used by all genders

起源と歴史

The figurative use of 引く (to pull back, withdraw) for social or emotional recoil has been in Japanese for a long time, but the casual declaration 引くわ became a signature phrase of the 2000s–2010s youth lexicon, especially through variety TV shows where panellists would react to awkward stories.

文化的背景

時代: 2000s–2010s, amplified by variety TV and social media

世代: Teens to 40s

社会的背景: Universal informal

地域メモ: Used across Japan. Variety shows popularised ドン引き (extreme version of 引く) as a common reaction to awkward or inappropriate behaviour.