世間

• 読み: せけん
• ローマ字: seken
• 漢字の分解: 世 (se) — world, generation; 間 (ken) — between, space
• 発音: /se.keɴ/

意味

World; society; the public; people around you. The community of people whose opinions and judgements one is aware of.

A noun with strong cultural weight in Japan. Unlike 社会 (society as a system), 世間 refers to the informal social world of shared norms and expectations — the people who know you and whose opinions matter. Common collocations include 世間体 (public appearances), 世間話 (small talk), and 世間が狭い (what a small world).

例文

1. 世間の目を気にしすぎないほうがいい。
2. 久しぶりに会って世間話をした。
3. 世間は意外と狭いものだ。

使い方ガイド

場面: daily life, culture, conversation

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Composed of 世 (world, generation) and 間 (between, space). Together they mean the space between people in the world — society as a lived social reality.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal