迫る

• 読み: せまる
• ローマ字: semaru
• 漢字の分解: 迫 (sema) — to press, approach; contains 白 (conspicuous) + 辶 (movement)
• 発音: /se.ma.ɾɯ/

意味

To approach; to draw near; to press; to urge. To come close threateningly or urgently, or to demand something insistently.

A Group 1 (godan) verb with multiple overlapping senses. 迫る can mean physical approach (締め切りが迫る — a deadline approaches), threatening proximity (敵が迫る — the enemy closes in), emotional welling (涙が迫る — tears well up), and demanding urging (回答を迫る — to press for an answer). Its wide semantic range and high frequency make it a core N1 verb. The noun 迫力 (compelling power, intensity) derives from the same root.

例文

1. 提出期限が刻一刻と迫っているのに、まだレポートが半分しか書けていない。
2. 記者会見で記者たちが大臣に辞任を迫る場面が生中継された。
3. 彼の演技には独特の迫力があり、観客を圧倒する何かが迫ってくる感じがした。

使い方ガイド

場面: deadlines, politics, threat, emotion, performance

トーン: urgent, intense

起源と歴史

From Old Japanese 迫る (se-maru), related to the root 狭 (narrow, confined). The original sense of being pressed into a narrow space evolved into the ideas of approach, pressure, and urgency. The kanji 迫 depicts a person pressed against a cliff, conveying constriction and imminence.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient-Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal