Untranslatable wordEverydayJapanese

Ikigai

Meaning: The thing that makes you want to get out of bed — the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.

Literally: Reason for being

Origin: Japanese 生き甲斐; iki ('life') + gai ('worth').

More untranslatable words — Everyday

  • Ma The meaningful negative space between things — a deliberate pause in music, an empty room…
  • Kummerspeck The weight you gain from emotional eating — the extra pounds that accumulate during heart…
  • Verschlimmbessern To make something worse in a well-intentioned attempt to improve it.
  • Sturmfrei The liberating feeling of having the house entirely to yourself — when parents or a partn…
  • Utepils The specific pleasure of sitting outside in the sun and drinking a beer — a ritual that f…
  • Lagom Not too much, not too little — perfectly moderate, appropriate, and balanced. A cultural…

More Japanese untranslatable words

  • Natsukashii A warm, nostalgic rush triggered by something from the past — a smell, a song, a sight. N…
  • Yugen A profound, mysterious sense of the universe that is too deep for words — the feeling of…
  • Koi no yokan The intuitive feeling upon first meeting someone that you will inevitably fall in love wi…
  • Amae The comfortable feeling of depending on another's goodwill — leaning into someone's indul…
  • 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.

Explore another collection: Idioms

Colorful expressions from dozens of languages, with their word-for-word translations.

Browse all idioms →

Keep exploring

Explore all untranslatable words →