Amae
Meaning: The comfortable feeling of depending on another's goodwill — leaning into someone's indulgence, as a child does with a parent.
Language: Japanese
Literally: sweet dependency
Category: Social
Origin: Japanese 甘え; theorised by psychiatrist Takeo Doi as core to Japanese psychology.
More untranslatable words — Social
- Fremdschämen — The vicarious embarrassment you feel for someone who is doing something cringeworthy — ev…
- Drachenfutter — A peace-offering gift brought home to a partner after staying out too late or doing somet…
- Nunchi — The subtle art of reading a room — sensing what people feel, what they need, and what is…
- Jeong — A deep emotional bond that forms slowly over time through shared experience — the invisib…
- Gattara — A woman — often elderly — who dedicates herself to feeding and caring for stray cats in h…
- Philotimo — A deep-rooted sense of dignity, generosity, and virtue — doing the right thing out of lov…
More Japanese untranslatable words
- Shinrin-yoku — Immersing yourself in the atmosphere of a forest — soaking up its calm through all your s…
- Boketto — Staring off into the distance with your mind pleasantly empty, thinking of nothing at all.
- Komorebi — The dappled light that filters through leaves and scatters across the ground.
- Wabi-sabi — Finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and the worn or incomplete.
- Tsundoku — Buying books and letting them pile up unread — a habit, not a crime.
- Mono no aware — A bittersweet awareness of impermanence — the gentle sadness and appreciation that arise…
From our idioms
- 月とすっぽん (Tsuki to suppon) — Two things alike at a glance but worlds apart.
- 石橋を叩いて渡る (Ishibashi o tataite wataru) — To be extremely, even excessively, cautious.
- 釘を刺す (kugi o sasu) — To remind someone firmly so they can't back out.