Emaki · all 1,500 words

申し訳ない

もうしわけない

sorry, inexcusable

Mnemonic

You have run out of excuses and you are saying so out loud. The same もう as already, a わけ of a reason, and Bill Nye ない has taken the last of them: もうしわけない.

Worth knowing

The formal apology, for work and for strangers. ごめん is what you say to a friend.

Built from

say humbly
Originally a bolt of lightning, a message sent upward.
reason, translation
言 speech + 尺 measure

Words sharing these kanji

to be called..., to speak (humble form) apology, excuse

This is one of 1,500 words in Emaki, a free spaced repetition trainer with a written mnemonic on every card.

Study 申し訳ない in Emaki

Free, no account needed. Your progress stays in your browser.

Emaki is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Kaishi 1.5k or its authors. The word, reading and meaning come from the Kaishi 1.5k deck, used with their permission. The mnemonic, the note and the kanji breakdown are original work, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.