Translation guide
Describes something hanging down or bending downward, often from lack of support, tiredness, or wilting. Covers physical objects, plants, body parts, and metaphorical low spirits.
Describing something that hangs downward, often due to gravity or lack of support.
General verb for something hanging down or drooping. Can be used for objects, body parts, or liquids.
カーテンが垂れている。
The curtain is drooping.
Emphasizes the state of hanging down heavily. Often used for things like branches, wires, or fabric.
木の枝が垂れ下がっている。
The tree branches are drooping.
Implies hanging loosely, often with a sense of dangling. More casual than 垂れる.
猿が木からぶら下がっている。
The monkey is drooping from the tree.
Describing plants or flowers that are bending or losing firmness due to lack of water or heat.
Specifically for plants wilting or drooping. Very common.
花がしおれてしまった。
The flowers have drooped.
Same meaning as しおれる, but kanji form is less common in everyday writing. Often written in kana.
Describing body parts that sag or hang down, often from tiredness, age, or relaxation.
Used for eyelids, shoulders, etc. when they droop.
疲れてまぶたが垂れてきた。
My eyelids are drooping from tiredness.
Idiomatic for drooping shoulders, often expressing disappointment or dejection.
Means to hang one's head, often implying drooping of the head due to sadness or shame.
Metaphorical drooping, describing a person's mood or energy as low or depressed.
Common phrase for lacking energy or seeming droopy in spirit.
今日はなんだか元気がないね。
You seem kind of droopy today.
Onomatopoeic word for being dejected or drooping in spirit. Often used for visible sadness.
犬がしょんぼりと尻尾を垂れている。
The dog is drooping its tail dejectedly.
Formal/literary term for being dispirited or drooping in morale.
チームは敗戦に意気消沈している。
The team is drooping after the defeat.
垂れる is for physical drooping of objects or body parts, while しおれる is specifically for plants wilting. Using 垂れる for flowers is possible but less natural than しおれる.
English 'drooping' for mood is often better expressed with phrases like 元気がない or しょんぼりする. Direct translations like 精神が垂れる are unnatural.
暑さで観葉植物が萎れた。
The houseplant drooped from the heat.
His shoulders drooped at the news of failing.
彼女は恥ずかしそうにうつむいた。
She drooped her head in embarrassment.