JLPT N1 · Verb

冴える (saeru)

冴える (さえる, saeru) is a Japanese verb meaning “to be clear (of a sight, sound, colour, etc.); to be bright”. It appears in JLPT N1 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: さえる
Romaji: saeru
Word class: Ichidan verb (る-verb)
Level: JLPT N1 (unofficial)

Meaning

to be clear (of a sight, sound, colour, etc.); to be bright; to be vivid; to be crisp · ichidan verb, intransitive
to be clear-headed; to be alert; to be on the ball; to be wide awake · ichidan verb, intransitive
to look upbeat; to be perky; to be cheerful · ichidan verb, intransitive · often as 冴えない
to master (a skill); to excel at; to cleanly execute · ichidan verb, intransitive
to be satisfying · ichidan verb, intransitive · often as 冴えない

Example sentences

満月が空にさえている。

A full moon is shining bright in the sky.

Tatoeba #81081

昨日ゆっくり休んだ分、今日は頭が冴えている。

I feel smart today, to a degree that is in proportion to the amount of good rest I had yesterday.

Tatoeba #76120

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

Conjugation of 冴える

Ichidan verb (る-verb). Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

Form	Japanese	Reading
Dictionary	冴える	さえる saeru
Polite (~masu)	冴えます	さえます saemasu
Negative	冴えない	さえない saenai
Polite negative	冴えません	さえません saemasen
Past	冴えた	さえた saeta
Polite past	冴えました	さえました saemashita
Negative past	冴えなかった	さえなかった saenakatta
Te-form	冴えて	さえて saete
Potential	冴えられる	さえられる saerareru
Passive	冴えられる	さえられる saerareru
Causative	冴えさせる	さえさせる saesaseru
Volitional	冴えよう	さえよう saeyou
Imperative	冴えろ	さえろ saero
Conditional (~ba)	冴えれば	さえれば saereba

Kanji in 冴える

冴

be clear, serene, coldゴ・コ・さ.える・こお.る · 7 strokes

Source: JMdict entry 1297050 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.