なだめる

• 読み: なだめる
• ローマ字: nadameru
• 発音: /na.da.me.ɾɯ/

意味

To soothe; to calm down; to pacify an upset or agitated person; to appease someone's anger or distress.

A Group 2 (ichidan) verb typically written in hiragana. なだめる involves actively trying to settle someone's emotions through words, gestures, or concessions. It is used for calming a crying child, pacifying an angry customer, or tempering a heated argument. The verb implies a deliberate effort to bring a person back to a calmer state, often without necessarily resolving the root cause of the upset. Also written 宥める with kanji.

例文

1. 泣き続ける子どもをなだめながら、母親は優しく背中をさすってやった。
2. 怒り心頭の顧客をなだめるのに、担当者は一時間以上かかった。
3. なだめようとすればするほど、彼の怒りはかえって激しくなっていった。

使い方ガイド

場面: daily life, parenting, customer service, conflict resolution

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Likely derived from なだらか (gradual, gentle slope) or related to 和む (nagumu, to soften). The word has been used in Japanese since the Heian period to describe the act of gently reducing tension or agitation, evoking the image of smoothing something rough.

文化的背景

時代: Classical to Contemporary

世代: All ages

社会的背景: General