匂わせる

• 読み: におわせる
• ローマ字: niowaseru
• 漢字の分解: 匂 (nioi/niowa) — smell, scent, suggest
• 発音: /ni.o.wa.se.ɾɯ/

意味

To suggest; to hint at; to imply something without stating it directly; to give a whiff of.

A Group 2 (ichidan) causative form of 匂う (to smell, to have a scent). Metaphorically, 匂わせる means to let something's presence be faintly sensed — like a scent that hints at something nearby without it being seen. In contemporary usage, it commonly refers to indirect allusions in conversation, writing, or social media, where a person implies something (a relationship, a plan, an opinion) without explicitly confirming it. The noun form 匂わせ has become a social media term for posts that hint at a celebrity's private relationship.

例文

1. 彼は辞職を匂わせるような発言を繰り返したが、正式な発表はなかった。
2. SNSでの投稿が交際を匂わせていると、ファンの間で話題になった。
3. プレゼンの冒頭で新製品の存在を匂わせ、聴衆の期待感を高めた。

使い方ガイド

場面: conversation, social media, journalism, business

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Causative form of 匂う (to smell/to have an aura), from Old Japanese. The metaphorical extension from olfactory perception to subtle implication reflects how scent operates at the edge of awareness — perceptible but not fully visible, suggesting without declaring.

文化的背景

時代: Contemporary

世代: Young adult to adult

社会的背景: General