濁す

• 読み: にごす
• ローマ字: nigosu
• 漢字の分解: 濁 (daku/nigo) — muddy, turbid, obscure
• 発音: /ni.ɡo.sɯ/

意味

To make muddy or turbid; to obscure; to be deliberately evasive or ambiguous in speech.

A Group 1 (godan) verb with both literal and figurative meanings. Literally it means to make water murky or to cloud a clear liquid. Figuratively, the most common use in N1-level contexts is 言葉を濁す (to speak vaguely, to hedge), meaning to intentionally avoid giving a clear answer, often to escape responsibility or prevent conflict. This evasiveness is a culturally recognisable communicative strategy and the phrase appears frequently in news reports and formal writing.

例文

1. 記者から直接質問されても、大臣は言葉を濁すだけで明確な回答を避けた。
2. 透明だった川が工場排水で濁されたという報告を受け、当局が調査に乗り出した。
3. 彼は責任の所在について問われるたびに言葉を濁し、問題解決が遅れた。

使い方ガイド

場面: politics, journalism, business, daily life

トーン: negative

起源と歴史

From the adjective 濁る (nigoru, to become muddy), itself rooted in Old Japanese. The kanji 濁 combines 氵 (water) and 蜀 (a caterpillar-like creature associated with opacity), evoking the image of water made unclear by disturbance.

文化的背景

時代: Contemporary

世代: Adult

社会的背景: General