ひもじい

• 読み: ひもじい
• ローマ字: himojii
• 発音: /çimo̞d͡ʑiː/

意味

Hungry; starving; famished. Expresses a deep, often pitiable state of hunger, with nuances of deprivation.

An archaic i-adjective carrying literary and nostalgic connotations. Unlike 空腹 (neutral word for hunger) or お腹がすいた (common everyday expression), ひもじい evokes an almost plaintive, physical deprivation. It appears in literature set during wartime, poverty, or hardship, and lends pathos to descriptions of hunger.

例文

1. 山で道に迷い、何も食べられずにひもじい思いをして一夜を過ごした。
2. ひもじい子どもたちのために、毎週末炊き出しボランティアに参加している。
3. 戦時中の祖母はひもじさに耐えかねて、野草や木の根まで食べたと話してくれた。

使い方ガイド

場面: literature, historical narrative, hardship, old age speech

トーン: plaintive

起源と歴史

An ancient Japanese word with obscure ultimate origin, found in classical texts since the Heian period. Some scholars trace it to 日の飢え (hi no ue) — 'hunger of the day' — though this is not conclusively established. The archaic adjective suffix じい (related to しい) reinforces its classical character.

文化的背景

時代: Classical

世代: Older adults

社会的背景: Universal