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一生懸命 (いっしょうけんめい) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

一いっ生しょう懸けん命めい

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Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

1

adverb, na-adjective, noun

with all one's might; very hard; eagerly

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

Used to describe doing something with maximum effort, determination, or desperation. Can function as an adverb, adjectival noun, or noun.

彼かれは一いっ生しょう懸けん命めい勉べん強きょうして、試し験けんに合ごう格かくした。
He studied very hard and passed the exam.

一いっ生しょう懸けん命めい走はしったが、バスに間まに合あわなかった。

I ran as hard as I could, but I missed the bus.

彼かの女じょは一いっ生しょう懸けん命めいな人ひとだから、きっと成せい功こうする。

She is a very hardworking person, so she will surely succeed.

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
生life, genuine, birth
懸state of suspension, hang, depend
命fate, command, decree

Similar words

必ひっ死し
必死 emphasizes a desperate, life-or-death effort, while 一生懸命 is more about earnest, wholehearted effort without the same extreme nuance.
懸けん命めい
懸命 is a shorter, more formal version of 一生懸命, often used in written language or compound words.

Etymology

A yojijukugo derived from the phrase 一所懸命 (いっしょけんめい), which originally meant 'to risk one's life on a single piece of land' in the context of samurai protecting their territory. Over time, 一所 (one place) changed to 一生 (one's whole life), shifting the meaning to 'with all one's might throughout one's life.'