甘んじる

• 読み: あまんじる
• ローマ字: amanjiru
• 漢字の分解: 甘 (kan/ama) — sweet, lenient, accept passively
• 発音: /a.man.dʑi.ɾɯ/

意味

To content oneself with; to resign oneself to; to accept (something undesirable) without complaint. Implies passive acceptance of an unsatisfactory situation.

A Group 2 (ichidan) verb. 甘んじる derives from 甘 (sweet/lenient) but carries a nuance of quietly tolerating something less than ideal. The key usage pattern is に甘んじる — 二番手に甘んじる (settle for second place), 現状に甘んじる (accept the status quo). It often carries an implicit criticism: one who 甘んじる is not striving to improve their situation. Contrast with 満足する, which is a more positive acceptance.

例文

1. 才能があるのに、ずっと補欠に甘んじているのはもったいない。
2. 現状に甘んじることなく、常に高みを目指す姿勢が成長につながる。
3. 不当な扱いに甘んじてきた彼が、ついに自分の権利を主張し始めた。

使い方ガイド

場面: workplace, literature, self-improvement, social commentary

トーン: resigned

起源と歴史

Derived from the adjective 甘い (sweet/lenient/easy). The verb 甘んじる originally referred to accepting sweet or easy conditions, but evolved to mean accepting any situation passively, even an unfavourable one.

文化的背景

時代: Contemporary

世代: Adults

社会的背景: General