あ JLPT N1 Vocabulary

Kana あ

1. 哀愁 あいしゅう Pathos; sorrow; grief. A melancholic sadness often evoked by beauty or impermanence.
2. 曖昧模糊 あいまいもこ Vague; obscure; hazy; indistinct. Describes something deeply unclear or ambiguous.
3. 悪意 あくい Malice; ill will; bad faith. An intentional desire to harm or deceive others.
4. 飽くなき あくなき Insatiable; unquenchable; relentless. Describing a drive or desire that never subsides.
5. 悪用 あくよう Abuse; misuse; exploitation. Using something in a harmful or unintended way.
6. 明け暮れ あけくれ Dawn and dusk; day and night; all day long. Spending all one's time devoted to something.
7. 浅はか あさはか Shallow; superficial; thoughtless. Lacking depth in thought or judgement.
8. 足掛かり あしがかり Foothold; stepping stone; starting point. An initial position that enables further progress.
9. 圧迫 あっぱく Pressure; oppression; coercion. Physical or psychological force applied to constrain someone.
10. 阿鼻叫喚 あびきょうかん Pandemonium; infernal screaming; utter chaos. A scene of extreme suffering and desperate cries.
11. 天邪鬼 あまのじゃく Contrarian; perverse person; devil's advocate. Someone who deliberately opposes or goes against others.
12. 在り方 ありかた The way something should be; ideal form; proper state. How a person, organisation, or thing ought to exist.
13. 有様 ありさま State of affairs; situation; spectacle. The actual condition or appearance of something, often disappointing.
14. 暗礁 あんしょう Reef; hidden rock; obstacle; snag. An unseen danger or serious impediment to progress.
15. 暗示 あんじ Hint; suggestion; implication. Conveying meaning indirectly without stating it explicitly.
16. 暗澹 あんたん Gloomy; dismal; dark; dreary. A pervasive sense of hopelessness or bleakness.
17. 暗中模索 あんちゅうもさく Groping in the dark; feeling one's way. Proceeding without a clear plan or sufficient information.
18. 暗黙 あんもく Tacit; implicit; unspoken. Something understood without being stated explicitly.
19. あからさま あからさま Obvious; blatant; frank; open. Describes something plainly visible or candidly expressed without disguise or pretence.
20. あくどい あくどい Unscrupulous; crafty; gaudy; garish. Describes either morally questionable cunning or visually excessive gaudiness.
21. あっけない あっけない Anticlimactic; too brief; unsatisfying. Describes something that ends or concludes far too quickly, leaving one feeling deflated.
22. あどけない あどけない Innocent; childlike; naive; artless. Describes a person or expression that is purely innocent and free from worldly experience.
23. 甘酸っぱい あまずっぱい Bittersweet; sweet and sour; nostalgic. Describes a complex experience blending sweetness with sharpness, especially the ache of cherishe...
24. 危うい あやうい Dangerous; precarious; on the verge of; barely safe. Describes a situation teetering on the edge of disaster or something that narrowly o...
25. 荒々しい あらあらしい Rough; wild; violent; fierce; rugged. Describes intensely powerful, untamed force in nature or human behaviour.
26. 粗い あらい Rough; coarse; crude; harsh. Describes texture, quality, or resolution that lacks refinement or smoothness.
27. 有り触れた ありふれた Common; ordinary; trite; run-of-the-mill. Describes something encountered so frequently that it has become unremarkable or clichéd.
28. 合い言葉 あいことば Password; watchword; shared motto or slogan. A word or phrase used for mutual identification or to signal shared purpose.
29. 阿吽の呼吸 あうんのこきゅう Perfect synchronisation between two people; unspoken mutual understanding. The intuitive coordination of partners who need no words.
30. 明かし あかし Proof; evidence; testimony; a demonstration or pledge that attests to truth.
31. 揚げ足取り あげあしとり Fault-finding; catching someone in a slip of the tongue; nitpicking at another's words rather than engaging with substance.
32. 暗号化 あんごうか Encryption; encoding; ciphering. The process of converting data or messages into a coded form.
33. 暗黒物質 あんこくぶっしつ Dark matter; hypothetical matter that does not interact with electromagnetic force but whose gravitational effects are observed throughou...
34. 暗黒エネルギー あんこくエネルギー Dark energy; the hypothetical energy permeating all of space that is thought to be driving the accelerating expansion of the universe.
35. 暗号 あんごう Code; cipher; cryptography; secret signal or password. A system of symbols or transformations used to conceal meaning.
36. 哀歌 あいか Elegy; lament; dirge; threnody. A mournful song or poem composed in memory of the dead or in expression of grief.
37. 愛唱歌 あいしょうか Favourite song; beloved melody. A song one loves to sing or hear repeatedly over many years.
38. 愛読 あいどく Favourite reading; reading with great pleasure. The act of reading something one loves, often repeatedly.
39. 渾名 あだな Nickname; alias; epithet. An informal name given to a person based on a characteristic, deed, or appearance.
40. 当て字 あてじ Ateji; the use of kanji for their phonetic sound rather than their meaning, or kanji chosen creatively to suggest a meaning beyond the or...
41. 暗喩 あんゆ Metaphor; implied comparison. A figure of speech in which one thing is described as if it were another, without using explicit comparativ...
42. 相対取引 あいたいとりひき Over-the-counter (OTC) trade; bilateral transaction negotiated directly between two parties without going through an exchange.
43. 頭打ち あたまうち Hitting a ceiling; reaching a peak; plateauing. Describes a situation where growth, prices, or performance have stalled at their maximum.
44. 頭金 あたまきん Down payment; deposit; the initial lump sum paid upfront when purchasing property or making an instalment agreement.
45. 斡旋 あっせん Mediation; good offices; the arrangement or facilitation of an agreement between parties, or the act of finding someone a job or connection.
46. 天下り先 あまくだりさき Post-retirement destination; the private-sector or quasi-governmental organisation that a retired bureaucrat or senior official moves int...
47. 粗利 あらり Gross profit; gross margin. The difference between sales revenue and the direct cost of goods sold, before deducting operating expenses.
48. 粗利益 あらりえき Gross profit; gross margin. The formal accounting term for revenue minus cost of goods sold, before operating expenses are deducted.
49. 暁 あかつき Dawn; daybreak. Also used in the grammatical pattern 〜の暁に to mean 'when the time comes for…' or 'in the event of…'.
50. 曙 あけぼの Dawn; daybreak. Also used figuratively for the early, hopeful beginning of an era, movement, or new development.
51. 悪性 あくせい Malignant; virulent; pernicious. Used in medical contexts to describe dangerous growths or conditions, and figuratively to describe deepl...
52. 安静 あんせい Rest; repose; keeping still. A medical instruction or state of being quiet and motionless to allow the body to recover.
53. 悪徳 あくとく Wickedness; vice; corruption; moral depravity. Refers to unethical conduct or character marked by immorality and dishonesty.
54. 圧力団体 あつりょくだんたい Pressure group; lobbying group; interest group. An organised body that seeks to influence government policy or public opinion in favour o...
55. 天下り あまくだり Descent from heaven; the practice of retired senior government officials taking lucrative positions in the private sector or in corporati...
56. 仰ぐ あおぐ To look up at; to revere or respect; to ask for (guidance or instructions). A versatile verb covering both physical and metaphorical senses.
57. 煽る あおる To fan (a flame); to incite or instigate; to stir up emotions or a crowd. Implies provocation or agitation.
58. 明かす あかす To reveal or disclose (a secret, truth, or identity); to spend or pass (the night). Two distinct but common usages.
59. 明け渡す あけわたす To hand over; to surrender (territory or a position); to vacate (a property). Implies relinquishing control or possession.
60. 漁る あさる To search through; to rummage; to forage or fish for. Implies an active, sometimes frantic search through a collection of things.
61. 嘲る あざける To mock; to ridicule; to jeer at; to scoff at. Implies contemptuous derision directed at a person or their actions.
62. 仇を返す あだをかえす To return evil for good; to repay a kindness with harm; to retaliate against a benefactor. A strongly negative set phrase.
63. 暴れ回る あばれまわる To rampage; to run amok; to act violently while moving around. Suggests wide-ranging, uncontrolled violent behaviour.
64. 浴びせる あびせる To pour or shower something onto someone; to heap (criticism, praise, or abuse) upon a person. Used both literally and figuratively.
65. 溢れ出す あふれだす To overflow and gush out; to spill over; to well up and pour forth. Suggests a sudden or uncontrolled release of something that had accum...
66. 炙り出す あぶりだす To bring to light; to expose; to reveal something hidden (originally by applying heat, as with invisible ink). The figurative sense is pr...
67. 炙る あぶる To roast, grill, or toast over a flame; to warm by a fire. Refers specifically to cooking or heating by direct exposure to fire or heat.
68. 余す あます To leave over; to have remaining; to spare. Often used in the set phrase 余すところなく (thoroughly, without leaving anything out).
69. 甘んじる あまんじる To content oneself with; to resign oneself to; to accept (something undesirable) without complaint. Implies passive acceptance of an unsa...
70. 歩み寄る あゆみよる To approach; to make concessions; to compromise; to meet someone halfway. Implies a deliberate move toward agreement or reconciliation.
71. 抗う あらがう To resist; to oppose; to defy. Implies actively struggling against a force, authority, or inevitable circumstance.
72. 改める あらためる To change; to reform; to revise; to renew. Implies deliberate correction or improvement of something that was inadequate or incorrect.
73. 味わう あじわう To taste; to savour; to experience deeply; to appreciate fully. Used for both literal tasting and figurative absorption of an experience.
74. 塩梅 あんばい Seasoning; balance of taste; condition; state of affairs; the just-right balance of something.
75. 愛国 あいこく Patriotism; love of one's country. Devotion and loyalty to the nation.
76. 圧政 あっせい Tyranny; oppression; despotism. Harsh, unjust rule that suppresses the people.
77. 暗殺 あんさつ Assassination. The deliberate killing of a prominent or political figure.
78. 安保理 あんぽり UN Security Council. The principal organ of the United Nations responsible for international peace and security.
79. 哀惜 あいせき Grief; sorrow; deep regret; mourning. Expresses profound lamentation over an irreplaceable loss.
80. 哀切 あいせつ Pathetic; touching; plaintive; sorrowful. Describes something that is so steeped in sorrow it cuts to the heart.
81. 愛憎 あいぞう Love and hate; mixed feelings of affection and resentment. Describes the complex coexistence of opposing emotions toward the same person ...
82. 唖然 あぜん Dumbfounded; speechless; stunned; flabbergasted. Describes being rendered utterly speechless by shock or astonishment.
83. 哀れみ あわれみ Pity; compassion; sympathy; mercy. The feeling of sorrow and concern stirred by another's suffering or misfortune.
84. 安堵 あんど Relief; reassurance; peace of mind. The calming sensation that follows the resolution of anxiety or uncertainty.