Words And Phrases Flashcards
To fill in time (e.g. while waiting for something)
間が持つ
まがもつ
Straight person
ノンケ
To be overwhelmed, intimidated, overawed
気圧される
けおされる
Immediately before…, on the point/verge/brink of…
〜間際 まぎわ
閉店間際 just before the shop closes
Annoying
うざい
To carry in one’s hand, take with one
提げる さげる
かばんを提げる
To be startled, taken aback, brought up short
はっとする
Intently, earnestly, single-mindedly, fervently, solely/simply
ひたすら
Perfect, leaving nothing to be desired, going above and beyond (e.g. service in restaurant/hotel/etc.)
至れり尽くせり
いたれりつくせり
A moment of happiness
至福の時
しふくのとき
To get sentimental
感傷的になる
かんしょうてき
Addictive
中毒性がある
ちゅうどくせい
To feel awkward
気まずい思いをする
To try to draw attention by doing something different/novel
奇をてらう
To be confused, at a loss, taken aback, mystified, rattled
面食らう
めんくらう
To come home to one, to quickly understand what someone is getting at, to appeal to one, to ring a bell
ぴんと来る
Come home to one/make everything clear: その一言でぴんときた
Appeal: この小説は私にはぴんとこない
Ring a bell: この顔にぴんときたら110番
To use as an excuse/tool/pawn, take advantage of, exploit
〜をだしにする
Reaping as one sowed, asking for trouble
自業自得
じごうじとく
自業自得だ！ Serves you right!
To be strained/awkward
ぎくしゃくしている
To say something indirectly
遠回しに言う
とおまわし に いう
Associated with X
Xにちなんだ
Technically speaking
厳密に言うと
Speaking of 〜
〜といえば
A lifetime’s worth
一生分（いっしょうぶん）
（例）日本で一生分のすしを食べたから、もうすしは当分（とうぶん）食べたくない。
Two sides of the same coin
表裏一体(の)
ひょうりいったい
この二つは表裏一体だ。
To sugarcoat (an unpleasant fact)
オブラートに包む
不快な事実をオブラートに包む
A bad loser
往生際が悪い
おうじょうぎわ
To freak out/panic/be overwhelmed
テンパる
To lose one’s nerve, shrink from, be daunted, feel awkward, feel self-conscious
気後がする
きおくれ
To go through a bad time
ひどい目に遭う
(That’s) off-putting/a turn-off/offensive
引くわ
You’re missing out! You’re wasting your life!
人生損しているよ！
そんしている
Speak of the devil…
噂をすれば(影が差す)
On the other hand, in contrast
そこへゆくと
Often, time and again, repeatedly, frequently
度々、しばしば
To appoint someone to a position of trust, give or promote someone to an important position
重用する
ちょうよう/じゅうよう
To excel, surpass others, stand conspicuously above others
抜きんでる
To compensate for, redeem, offset, fill in a gap, make up (a loss)
補う
おぎなう
To push through (e.g., a plan), carry something through, persevere with something, persist in, brazen out
押し通す
To stop, check, prevent, hold back
押しとどめる
To hand over/bequeath To give way to/concede/give up (e.g., one’s seat) To defer to/yield To postpone To sell/dispose of
譲る
ゆずる
Poor, destitute/meagre, scanty
貧しい
まずしい
To attract one’s attention, catch one’s eye, be prominent/eye-catching
目に付く
To drive in punch/hit/strike input/type in devote oneself to/buckle down to be obsessed with/be besotted with
打ち込む
unproductive, futile, fruitless//
sterile, barren (land)
不毛な
不毛の
ふもう
A pastime/amusement/distraction/diversion
娯楽
ごらく
Rarely, seldom
めったに
excessive enthusiasm/fervour
relaxed
気負い
気負いがない
To be over the worst/pass out of danger // pass the peak (it’s downhill from here)
峠を越える
とうげ を こえる
To smooth things over, help someone look good
フォローする
Fierce, keen, cutthroat (e.g., competition, battle)
熾烈な
しれつ
To be negligent, careless, inattentive, unprepared, slacken one’s effort/relax one’s attention
油断する
ゆだん
More than anything, above all others, above all else
何をおいても
A matter of course, a self-evident fact, a truism, a thing universally known
わかりきったこと
Those who are/who call themselves X
Xたるもの
To be angry with/about 〜
To scold 〜
〜を怒る
おこる
To seek/depend on/ask for, solicit/look upward
To look up to, revere
〜を仰ぐ
あおぐ
〜に仰ぐ
(look up to someone as (e.g., a mentor) 〜を〜と仰ぐ
To be downhearted, crestfallen, dispirited
しょげる
To skimp one’s work, cut corners
手を抜く
To gather, infer, surmise, intuit
To draw, drain, bail out
汲み取る
くみとる
Frugal, modest, humble
慎ましい
つつましい
Pitfall, trap
落とし穴
Dimension, order/level, perspective
A whole other level, a higher perspective…
次元
Potter’s wheel
Turn (the wheel)
ロクロ (轆轤)
ロクロでひく/をひく
To restore, refresh, bring back (e.g., memories), bring back to life, raise from the dead
よみがえらせる
蘇らせる、甦らせる
Vicarious experience
追体験
ついたいけん
Serves you right
A sorry state/situation, a spectacle
ざまみろ、ざまをみろ
ざま
Appropriate, fit, reasonable/natural, rational
しかるべき
しかるべき人 the right person (e.g., for the job)
彼の間違いはむしろ同情してしかるべきだ If anything, his mistake deserves our sympathy
Chronically (e.g., skint, unemployed, also used in illnesses like chronic fatigue)
慢性的に
まんせいてき
Indirect, roundabout, mealy-mouthed
遠回しな
とおまわし
Hold true, work, pass for, have currency//be in circulation or use
通用する
そんな言い訳はここでは通用しない
An excuse like that won’t work in this place
ユーロはこれらの国のどこでも通用する
The euro is good anywhere within these countries
Apparently, on the face of it, to all appearances//a look, a see (e.g., worth a…)//a glimpse, a quick look
一見
富士山は一見の価値がある Mount Fuji is worth a see
一見したところ at first glance
その男は一見学生風だった The man looked to all appearances to be a student
As if, just like (まるで)
あたかも
Real ability, capability, talent, merit, competency
実力
Imagine, visualise, see in one’s mind’s eye
思い描く
おもいえがく
Count, calculation, reckoning//payment (of bill), settlement (of account)
勘定
かんじょう
Build up one’s strength, get stronger
力をつける
Neglect, keep at arm’s length, give the cold shoulder, be cool towards, shun
疎んじる
うとんじる
To carry off/through, finish, succeed
やってのける
Force of habit
惰性
だせい
惰性になる find oneself in a rut
惰性で生きる go through the motions of living
Put the cart before the horse, mistake the means for the end, get yourself backwards
本末転倒する
ほんまつてんとう
Wild, ludicrous, absurd, preposterous
途方もない
とほう
To break down, become rickety, get out of order
ガタが来る
To be not to one’s liking, get on one’s nerves, be hard to swallow//be displeased with something
気に食わない
気に食わないことを言う
Say something unpleasant/disagreeable/hard to swallow
Night owl
To stay up late
夜更かし(する)
よふかし
To pun on, to parody
もじる
言葉をもじる to pun on a word
歌をもじる to write a parody of a tanka
To rule over, govern, be in charge of, conduct, preside over
司る
つかさどる
To assume that, be convinced that, get into one’s head the idea that
/To be bent on, determined to, make up one’s mind to
/To fall in love (set one’s heart on)
と思い込む
There’s no way you can not [verb]
〜手はない
こんなに便利なサービスを使わない手はない
Moist (e.g., cake), dewy/gently, softly
しっとり
しっとりした
しっとりと
Tasteful in a quiet way, severely elegant
Stingy
Glum, sulky
Astringent, tart
渋い
しぶい
A beginner, a rookie
新米の
しんまい
私はまったくの新米だ
That’s quite an achievement!
Isn’t that something!
What a woman/man!
大したものだ
Could be better
Not quite as good/well as I hoped
いまいちだ
To include everything, to bring together, to collect all
E.g., comprehensive, all-inclusive
網羅する
もうら
全てを網羅した
この辞書は現行(げんこう)のアメリカの俗語(ぞくご)を網羅している
Impromptu, improvised, off-the-cuff
即席の
そくせき
To sacrifice, waste, ruin, spoil, lose it all
棒に振る
を棒に振って at the cost of
long-cherished, long-planned
念願の（ねんがんの）
A perverse person, a cross-grained person, someone just being difficult (can be said jokingly)
天の邪鬼（あまのじゃく）
Full of curiosity
興味津々（きょうみしんしん)
Heart-warming
ほんわかした
ほのぼのとした
To till, work (a field), plough
耕す
たがやす
To mow/cut the grass
草を刈る
くさをかる
To round up/down (number)
四捨五入する
ししゃごにゅう
Even number
Odd number
偶数
ぐうすう
奇数
きすう
Steam
湯気
ゆげ
Knowing how to get on in life
The art of getting along with other people
処世術
しょせいじゅつ
Out (not in the home), elsewhere, things not related to the speaker/‘us’
よそ
よその other, strange, unknown
よそはよそ、うちはうち。[比べるな。/我慢しなさい。] common parental response (e.g., to child requesting game because someone else has it)
をよしにする to neglect, slight, not care for, be indifferent to
Member of the family / same organisation
身内 みうち
Among ourselves, privately
Private, informal
うちうちで
うちうちの
Distant, cold, standoffish, formal, unapproachable
よそよそしい
For going out, for company
よそ行きの服
よそ行きの格好
よそ行きの態度 (one’s best manners)
Plain, simple, easy (language)
Relaxed, informal, friendly, not standing on ceremony (attitude, tone, person)
砕けた くだけた
Someone who throws their weight around at home but is meek and mild outside
内弁慶 うちべんけい
Be affable to everyone except one’s family
外面がいい そとづら
Naive, innocent in the ways of the world
世間知らずな/の せけんしらず
To go against, antagonise, make an enemy of, turn 〜 into one’s enemy
を敵に回す てきにまわす
Underlying X is Y
〜には〜が根底にある
こんてい
Just kidding!
Wannabe
Faux
Fake
なんちゃって！
なんちゃって歌手
なんちゃって大理石
なんちゃって屋
〜is/will be nothing to do with me //you’ll get no sympathy from me if〜
〜ても知らないよ
そんなに食べてお腹が痛くなっても知りませんからね
On and off (with verb)
〜positiveたり〜negativeたり
忙しい日は、食べたり食べなかったりです。
学校に来たり来なかったりする生徒がいます。
To make a distinction between/draw a line between
けじめをつける
公私のけじめがある/ない
勉強するときは勉強する、遊ぶときは遊ぶ。けじめのある生活をしなさい。
To consider important, esteem, place a premium on
重んじる おもんじる
To mess up, fluff
とちる
Sense of purpose, feeling that life is worthwhile
張り
生活に張りを持たせる give someone something to live for/maintain one’s interest in life
作品が入選して仕事に張りが出てきた having my works accepted for the exhibition has filled me with a renewed sense of purpose
A contrary person/someone who won’t listen to others or take guidance (critical)
臍曲がり へそまがり
To take with a pinch of salt
話半分にして聞く
話半分にして聞いておくつもりだ
話半分にして聞くべきだ
Face-saving
メンツの立つような
Moral, ethical
From a moral standpoint
道徳的
どうとくてき
道徳的に
To have a good impression of someone
好感が持てる
こうかん
彼は有能な人だが、好感が持てない
Indirect/soft way of saying you don’t want to do something
今日はちょっと、遠慮しておきます
Lubricant (literal and metaphorical)
潤滑油 じゅんかつゆ
潤滑油の役割を果たす reduce the friction between…, help smooth things out
Friction, chafing
摩擦 まさつ
