う JLPT N1 Vocabulary

Kana う

1. 初々しい ういういしい Fresh; innocent; youthful; naive. Describes someone or something radiating the charm of first experience and unspoiled newness.
2. 胡散臭い うさんくさい Suspicious; shady; dubious; fishy. Describes an instinctive, gut-level distrust of a person, situation, or claim.
3. 薄汚い うすきたない Grimy; grubby; squalid; shabby. Describes something mildly but pervasively dirty or unkempt in a way that is off-putting.
4. 薄気味悪い うすきみわるい Creepy; eerie; unsettling; mildly disturbing. Describes a vague, ambient sense of dread that is hard to pin down.
5. 訴え うったえ Appeal; complaint; lawsuit; plea. A formal or emotional statement seeking redress, justice, or action.
6. 紆余曲折 うよきょくせつ Twists and turns; complications; a winding, roundabout course of events with many setbacks and unexpected developments.
7. 恨み言 うらみごと Bitter words; words of resentment; complaints spoken from a deep sense of grievance or having been wronged.
8. 売り言葉 うりことば Provocative remark; fighting words; a heated or aggressive comment made to provoke a reaction.
9. 迂回 うかい Detour; a roundabout route; bypass. Taking an indirect path to reach a destination or avoid an obstacle.
10. 浮き彫り うきぼり Relief sculpture; bringing something to light; throwing something into sharp relief.
11. 器 うつわ Vessel; container; a person's calibre or capacity. Describes both a physical receptacle and someone's potential or magnanimity.
12. 旨味 うまみ Umami; a savoury, rich taste; profit or benefit; the appealing essence of something.
13. 裏付け うらづけ Backing; support; corroboration; evidence that confirms or substantiates a claim.
14. 裏腹 うらはら Opposite; contrary; reverse. Describes a stark contradiction between what is said and what is meant, or between appearance and reality.
15. 裏目 うらめ Backfiring; going wrong; producing the opposite of the intended result.
16. 運命 うんめい Fate; destiny; lot. The course of events believed to be predetermined or beyond human control.
17. 薄暗い うすぐらい Dim; dusky; gloomy; murky. Describes lighting that is faint or insufficient, often creating an eerie or melancholy atmosphere.
18. うっかりした うっかりした Careless; absent-minded; inadvertent. Describes a lapse in attention or a mistake made through inattention rather than malice.
19. 鬱蒼 うっそう Dense; thick; overgrown; luxuriant. Describes vegetation that has grown so thickly it blocks light or creates a sense of enclosure.
20. 鬱陶しい うっとうしい Gloomy; depressing; annoying; oppressively bothersome. Used for weather, situations, or people that weigh on the spirit.
21. 鬱々しい うつうつしい Gloomy; depressed; melancholy; dismal. Describes a deep, lingering state of low spirits or a persistently oppressive mood.
22. 疎い うとい Ignorant of; unfamiliar with; out of touch with. Describes a lack of knowledge or connection in a particular domain.
23. うやうやしい うやうやしい Respectful; reverential; deferential. Describes an exaggeratedly humble or formal manner of address or behaviour.
24. うら寂しい うらさびしい Forlorn; faintly lonely; quietly desolate. Describes a gentle, understated sadness tied to emptiness or solitude.
25. 浮ついた うわついた Frivolous; flighty; superficial; giddy. Describes a person or attitude that lacks substance or seriousness.
26. うんざりした うんざりした Fed up; sick and tired; thoroughly disgusted. Describes a state of exhausted exasperation with something repeated or prolonged.
27. 浮世絵 うきよえ Ukiyo-e; a genre of Japanese woodblock print and painting from the Edo period, depicting scenes of everyday life, landscapes, kabuki acto...
28. 蘊蓄 うんちく Extensive knowledge; great learning accumulated over time; pedantry. Also used humorously for showing off deep knowledge on a niche subject.
29. 請負 うけおい Contract work; a contracting arrangement where a party undertakes to complete a specified piece of work for an agreed price.
30. 売上高 うりあげだか Sales; turnover; total revenue generated from selling goods or services over a given period.
31. 売掛金 うりかけきん Accounts receivable; money owed to a company for goods or services already delivered but not yet paid for.
32. 運転資金 うんてんしきん Working capital; operating funds; the money available to cover day-to-day business operations such as payroll, inventory, and short-term ...
33. 閏年 うるうどし Leap year; a year with an intercalary day (29 February) added to synchronise the Gregorian calendar with the solar year.
34. 打ち首 うちくび Beheading; decapitation; capital punishment by decapitation. A method of execution historically used in Japan.
35. 右派 うは Right wing; right faction; hawks. The conservative or nationalist side of a political spectrum.
36. 右翼 うよく Right wing; right-wing; conservative. Used for nationalist or ultra-conservative political movements and individuals.
37. 植え付ける うえつける To implant; to instil; to embed. Used for embedding ideas, values, fears, or beliefs into a person's mind, often with lasting effect.
38. 窺い知る うかがいしる To perceive; to get a glimpse of; to infer from clues. Suggests detecting something hidden by reading between the lines or through carefu...
39. 蠢く うごめく To wriggle; to squirm; to stir with small movements. Evokes something alive and moving in an unsettling, restless, or barely perceptible ...
40. 嘯く うそぶく To feign ignorance; to brag brazenly; to whistle or howl. In modern usage, primarily means to speak with cool arrogance or to make a braz...
41. 打ち砕く うちくだく To smash; to shatter; to crush completely. Used both literally for breaking objects and figuratively for destroying hopes, barriers, or o...
42. 打ち立てる うちたてる To establish; to set up; to achieve. Carries a sense of founding something new or breaking a record with lasting permanence.
43. 打ちのめす うちのめす To knock down; to defeat thoroughly; to crush utterly. Implies overwhelming someone physically or emotionally, leaving no room for recovery.
44. 腕を振るう うでをふるう To display one's skill; to show what one can do; to demonstrate one's abilities to the fullest.
45. 埋め合わせる うめあわせる To make up for; to compensate; to offset. Used when trying to balance out a loss, mistake, or shortcoming with something positive.
46. 潤す うるおす To moisten; to enrich; to benefit. Covers both literal moistening of dry land or a parched throat, and figurative enrichment of the spiri...
47. 憂う うれう To grieve; to lament; to be worried about. A literary and elevated word expressing deep concern, sorrow, or anxiety — often about societa...
48. 浮かれる うかれる To be in high spirits; to be elated; to be carried away by excitement. Describes a state of giddy, floating exhilaration.
49. 後ろめたい うしろめたい Guilty; ashamed; having a guilty conscience. The uneasy feeling that something one has done — or failed to do — was wrong.
50. 打ちひしがれる うちひしがれる To be crushed; to be overwhelmed; to be devastated. Describes being emotionally flattened by grief, shock, or an overwhelming blow.
51. 恨み うらみ Grudge; resentment; bitterness; regret. A deep, lingering negative feeling toward someone who has caused harm or injustice.
52. 憂い うれい Grief; sorrow; worry; anxiety. A deep, inward-looking melancholy or concern, often about the state of the world or one's circumstances.
53. 嬉しさ うれしさ Happiness; joy; delight; gladness. The quality or degree of being pleased or overjoyed by a positive event.