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道Nihongo Path

Word 1408 of 2920

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潔い

いさぎよい

graceful (in defeat); manly

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 潔く負けを認めた。

    いさぎよくまけをみとめた。

    He gracefully admitted defeat.

  2. 彼の潔い態度に感心した。

    かれのいさぎよいたいどにかんしんした。

    I was impressed by his gracious attitude.

  3. 言い訳をしないで、潔く謝ったほうがいい。

    いいわけをしないで、いさぎよくあやまったほうがいい。

    Rather than making excuses, you should just apologize and be done with it.

  4. だめだと分かったら、潔くあきらめるのも大事だ。

    だめだとわかったら、いさぎよくあきらめるのもだいじだ。

    Once you know it's hopeless, giving up cleanly is important too.

Common patterns

潔く認める
to admit (defeat, a mistake) without fuss
潔くあきらめる
to give up gracefully
潔い態度
an admirable, unhesitating attitude

Memory tip

潔 is the 潔 of 清潔 (cleanliness) — the image is a person whose conduct is 'clean': no excuses, no clinging. You will meet it far more often as the adverb 潔く than as the plain adjective.

Kanji in this word

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What does 潔い mean?