尊い

• 読み: たっとい
• ローマ字: tattoi
• 漢字の分解: 尊 (son/tatto/touto) — precious, noble, revered, sacred
• 発音: /ta.t.to.i/

意味

Precious; sacred; noble; of inestimable value. Describes something or someone of the highest worth, dignity, or sanctity that transcends ordinary valuation.

An i-adjective with two standard readings: とうとい (tōtoi) in most modern everyday contexts, and たっとい (tattoi) in classical, poetic, or literary usage. The word expresses reverential worth—a life is 尊い, a sacrifice is 尊い, a deity is 尊い. It transcends monetary or practical value to imply something that must be cherished and protected. In recent internet culture, 尊い has gained a slang usage among fans meaning 'so beautiful/perfect it feels sacred,' but the literary meaning remains dominant in formal registers.

例文

1. 一人ひとりの命は等しく尊く、どんな理由があろうと奪われるべきではない。
2. 先人たちの尊い犠牲の上に、今日の平和が成り立っていることを忘れてはならない。
3. 時間は誰にとっても平等に与えられた尊いものだと、老境に入って改めて実感した。

使い方ガイド

場面: morality, religion, life values, history, sacrifice

トーン: positive

起源と歴史

From Old Japanese tattoshi (precious/noble), derived from the verb tatto-mu (to revere/to value highly). The kanji 尊 depicts a hand offering a vessel of liquor in a gesture of reverence, perfectly capturing the sense of treating something as sacred and worthy of the highest respect.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient–Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal