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Proverbs & idioms

200 entries

Japanese proverbs (ことわざ), four-character idioms (四字熟語), and idioms — from JMdict.

Proverbs Four-character idioms Idioms

Theme:All themes Animal200 Body319 Nature259 Food66 Emotion130 Money76 Time139 Number633 Color102

自壊作用じかいさよう(the act of) disintegration
自己中心じこちゅうしんselfishness; egotism; egoism; egocentricity
自己弁護じこべんごself-justification; excuse
自己矛盾じこむじゅんself-contradiction; paradox; antinomy
自己陶酔じことうすいnarcissism; self-absorption; self-intoxication
自暴自棄じぼうじきdesperation; despair; self-abandonment
自浄作用じじょうさようautopurificatory activity (in the natural world)

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花鳥諷詠かちょうふうえい

the beauties of nature and the harmony that exists between it and man (as the key poetic theme of a haiku)

花鳥風月かちょうふうげつbeauties of nature; the traditional themes of natural beauty in Japanese aesthetics

落花啼鳥らっかていちょうthe poetic feeling of a late spring scene (with flowers scattering and birds chirping)

落花狼藉らっかろうぜきrunning amok; committing violence on; in utter disorder

虎視眈々こしたんたんvigilantly (watching for an opportunity); eagerly; with an eagle eye

蛙鳴蝉噪あめいせんそうannoying noise; fruitless argument; useless controversy

蜿蜿長蛇えんえんちょうだlong and serpentine (line, queue, etc.)

蝸牛角上かぎゅうかくじょうtrifling (fight); (a conflict) between small countries

複雑怪奇ふくざつかいきcomplicated and mysterious

言文一致げんぶんいっちunification of the written and spoken forms of a language

詩歌管弦しいかかんげんChinese and Japanese poetry and instrumental music; poetry and music; literature and music

転生輪廻てんしょうりんねall things being in flux through the endless circle of birth, death, and rebirth; the circle of transmigration

輪廻転生りんねてんしょうall things being in flux through the endless circle of birth, death, and rebirth; the circle of transmigration

連銭葦毛れんぜんあしげdapple gray (horse coat color); dapple grey

過大評価かだいひょうかoverestimation; overrating; overvaluing

遠慮会釈えんりょえしゃくreserve and consideration (to others)

遮二無二しゃにむにdesperately; recklessly; (rushing) headlong

金烏玉兎きんうぎょくとsun and moon

金甌無欠きんおうむけつflawless; perfect; (a nation) having never been invaded by outside forces

針小棒大しんしょうぼうだいexaggeration; making a mountain out of a molehill

開眼供養かいげんくようceremony to consecrate a newly made Buddhist statue or image by inserting the eyes (thereby investing it with soul)

閑雲野鶴かんうんやかくlife in natural setting, free from worldly cares

阿付迎合あふげいごうingratiation; sycophancy

阿諛迎合あゆげいごうingratiation; sycophancy

随喜渇仰ずいきかつごうworship with adoration; ardent admiration

隔世遺伝かくせいいでんatavism; throwback; reappearance of an earlier characteristic; skipping a generation; reversion to ancestral type

隔靴掻痒かっかそうようbeing frustrated because something is not quite as hoped (just as one cannot scratch an itch from outside a shoe); having an itch that one cannot scratch

雄材大略ゆうざいたいりゃくsuperior talent and strategic wisdom; outstanding abilities and a talent for developing and implementing grand strategies

雲集霧散うんしゅうむさん(many things) gathering like clouds and vanishing like mist; swarming and scattering

面目躍如めんもくやくじょdemonstrative of one's worth; worthy of one's reputation; living up to one's name; characteristically masterful; bolstering one's reputation; enhancing one's prestige

音信不通おんしんふつうbreak in contact; not hearing from; having no communication with

風声鶴唳ふうせいかくれいgetting frightened even by a slight noise; hearing the enemy in every leaf that rustles; being afraid of one's own shadow

飛竜乗雲ひりゅうじょううんhero that seizes the moment and rises; a dragon soaring through the clouds

飛花落葉ひからくようscattering of the blossoms and falling of the leaves; the impermanence of worldly things

首鼠両端しゅそりょうたんbeing unable to make up one's mind; sitting on the fence

馬耳東風ばじとうふうutter indifference; talking to the wall; praying to deaf ears

馬鹿慇懃ばかいんぎんoverdone politeness; polite to a fault; feigned politeness

魚目燕石ぎょもくえんせきimitation that looks identical to the original; fake causing the original to lose value

魯魚亥豕ろぎょがいしmiswriting a word; using the wrong kanji to write a word

魯魚章草ろぎょしょうそうmiswriting a word; using the wrong kanji to write a word

鯨飲馬食げいいんばしょくdrinking like a fish and eating like a horse; eating mountains of food and drinking oceans of liquor

鳶飛魚躍えんぴぎょやくall of creation following their original natures, living and enjoying themselves freely; the kites fly and the fish leap; Heaven's will that all of creation shall follow their original natures and live freely; as a ruler's benevolence spreads, the people will find their places in the land based on their abilities

鶏口牛後けいこうぎゅうごbetter to be the beak of a rooster than the rump of a bull; better to be the leader of a small group than a subordinate in a large organization; better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond