空しい

Japanese

Kanji in this term
空
むな
Grade: 1
kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
虚しい

Etymology

From Old Japanese. Appears in the earliest texts of the 700s CE, including the Nihon Shoki and the Man'yōshū.[1]

Analyzable as むな (muna, “cavity, void, open space”, combining form, spelled variously as 空, 虚, 胸, 棟; cognate with standalone nouns 胸 (mune, “chest”), 棟 (mune, “roof ridge”)) + adjective-forming suffix しい (shii).

Pronunciation

  • Tokyo pitch accent of inflected forms of "空しい"
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Continuative (連用形) 空しく むな​しく
むなし​く
[mùnáꜜshìkù]
[mùnáshíꜜkù]
Terminal (終止形) 空しい むなし​い [mùnáshíꜜì]
Attributive (連体形) 空しい むなし​い [mùnáshíꜜì]
Key constructions
Informal negative 空しくない むな​しくない
むなし​くない
[mùnáꜜshìkùnàì]
[mùnáshíꜜkùnàì]
Informal past 空しかった むな​しかった
むなし​かった
[mùnáꜜshìkàttà]
[mùnáshíꜜkàttà]
Informal negative past 空しくなかった むな​しくなかった
むなし​くなかった
[mùnáꜜshìkùnàkàttà]
[mùnáshíꜜkùnàkàttà]
Formal 空しいです むなし​いです [mùnáshíꜜìdèsù]
Conjunctive 空しくて むな​しくて
むなし​くて
[mùnáꜜshìkùtè]
[mùnáshíꜜkùtè]
Conditional 空しければ むな​しければ
むなし​ければ
[mùnáꜜshìkèrèbà]
[mùnáshíꜜkèrèbà]

Adjective

空(むな)しい • (munashii) -i (adverbial 空(むな)しく (munashiku))

  1. empty, hollow, void
    Synonyms: 空っぽ (karappo), 虚ろ (utsuro), 空虚 (kūkyo)
  2. groundless, baseless, false
    Synonyms: 事実無根 (jijitsu mukon), 無実 (mujitsu)
  3. uncertain, unreliable, vain, futile
    Synonyms: (temporary, not the real thing) 仮初め (karisome), (vain) 果敢ない (hakanai)
  4. dead, lifeless
  5. unthinking (about someone), unattached (to someone)

Inflection

References

  1. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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