JLPT N1 · Noun

生き甲斐 (ikigai)

生き甲斐 (いきがい, ikigai) is a Japanese noun meaning “reason for living; something one lives for”. It appears in JLPT N1 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: いきがい
Romaji: ikigai
Word class: Noun
Level: JLPT N1 (unofficial)

Meaning

reason for living; something one lives for; purpose in life; raison d'être; ikigai · noun

Example sentences

今や彼には何の生きがいもない。

Now he has nothing to live for.

Tatoeba #172544

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Kanji in 生き甲斐

生

life, genuine, birthセイ・ショウ・い.きる・い.かす · 5 strokes

甲

armor, high (voice), A gradeコウ・カン・きのえ · 5 strokes

斐

beautiful, patternedヒ・イ · 12 strokes

Related words

Other vocabulary sharing a kanji with 生き甲斐.

学生がくせいstudent (esp. a university student)生徒せいとpupil先生せんせいteacher誕生日たんじょうびbirthday留学生りゅうがくせいoverseas student生まれるうまれるto be born生産せいさんproduction生活せいかつlife生きるいきるto live大学生だいがくせいuniversity student高校生こうこうせいsenior high school student一生懸命いっしょうけんめいvery hard生なまraw芝生しばふlawn

Source: JMdict entry 1378550 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.