Pain – Japanese mimetics
How to say it hurts in Japanese: seven words, each for a different kind of pain – from ずきずき through きりきり to がんがん.
At a glance
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ずきずき | to throb with pain | 虫歯が脈打つようにずきずきする。The bad tooth throbs in time with my pulse. |
| ちくちく | to prickle | セーターの毛で背中がちくちくして痛い。My sweater prickles my back until it hurts. |
| ひりひり | to sting, to burn | 日焼けした肩にシャワーがしみてひりひりする。My sunburnt shoulders sting under the shower. |
| がんがん | to throb hard (a headache); to bang loudly | 二日酔いで、頭全体が重くがんがんする。I'm hungover; my whole head is heavy and pounding. |
| きりきり | to have a gripping pain | 発表の前、胃が急にきりきりと締めつけられる。Before a talk, my stomach suddenly clenches. |
| しくしく | to ache dully and long | お腹が鈍くしくしくするが、言うほどでもない。My belly aches dully; it's not worth mentioning. |
| ちかちか | to sting, of the eyes | ライトが細かく点滅して、目がちかちかと痛い。The light flickers finely and my eyes sting. |
ずきずき · to throb with pain
Pain that returns with your pulse.
Voiced ず is heavy and deep, but there is no pair here: neither すきすき nor ぢくぢく exists. What separates it from ちくちく is not a diacritic but a rhythm — the pain comes back in waves with the pulse instead of pricking at one point. The other two neighbours part just as plainly: がんがん pounds the whole head, heavy and dull, while じんじん does not hurt at all — it goes numb and tingles.
Examples
- 虫歯が脈打つようにずきずきする。The bad tooth throbs in time with my pulse.
- 腫れた所が鼓動のたびにずきずきと痛む。The swollen spot throbs with every heartbeat.
ちくちく · to prickle
Small repeated pain, like a needle.
Voiceless ち is fine and sharp — many small pricks, not one big one. Pricking, not itching: むずむず makes you want to scratch, ちくちく to take off whatever is pricking you. And ずきずき throbs in time with the pulse instead of stabbing at one point.
Examples
- セーターの毛で背中がちくちくして痛い。My sweater prickles my back until it hurts.
- 細い針が刺さったように、指がちくちくと痛い。My finger prickles as if pricked by a fine needle.
ひりひり · to sting, to burn
A burning sting on skin or tongue.
Voiceless ひ is delicate — the surface burns, not the inside.
Examples
- 日焼けした肩にシャワーがしみてひりひりする。My sunburnt shoulders sting under the shower.
- 辛い物を食べて、舌が焼けるようにひりひりする。I ate something spicy and my tongue is burning.
がんがん · to throb hard (a headache); to bang loudly
A heavy, dull headache; also noise hammering your ears.
There is a pair here, and a textbook one: かんかん is glare and anger seen from outside (かんかん照り, かんかんに怒る). The 濁点 in が lets that same force inside the head — a pounding you cannot turn down. What separates it from ずきずき is reach: がんがん pounds the whole head, heavy and dull, while ずきずき throbs at one point and in time with the pulse.
Examples
- 二日酔いで、頭全体が重くがんがんする。I'm hungover; my whole head is heavy and pounding.
- 工事の音で、頭ががんがんと重苦しく痛む。Construction noise sets my head pounding heavily.
きりきり · to have a gripping pain
A stomach that feels squeezed and twisted.
Voiceless き keeps the pain thin and sharp. The voiced ぎりぎり means something else entirely — “just barely” — so there is no pair here. What separates it from しくしく is force and pace: きりきり grips suddenly and sharply enough to catch your breath, while しくしく aches faintly, dully and without end.
Examples
- 発表の前、胃が急にきりきりと締めつけられる。Before a talk, my stomach suddenly clenches.
- 冷たい水で胃が急に差し込むようにきりきりする。Cold water suddenly twists my stomach with pain.
しくしく · to ache dully and long
A weak belly ache that will not end.
The voiced じくじく does exist, but it speaks of a wound that weeps — the 濁点 shifts nothing about the pain here. The neighbour in the same belly settles it: きりきり grips suddenly and sharply, しくしく aches faintly and without end. The other neighbour lies across the line into weeping: めそめそ is snivelling and self-pity, plainly heard and seen on a person, while the しくしく of this card hurts inside and shows nothing.
Examples
- お腹が鈍くしくしくするが、言うほどでもない。My belly aches dully; it's not worth mentioning.
- 試験中お腹がしくしくと鈍く痛むが、我慢できる。Mid-exam, my belly aches dully, but it's bearable.
ちかちか · to sting, of the eyes
Fine, flickering light; this card takes the use about the eyes it hurts.
Voiceless ち makes the stimulus fine and pinpoint. The dictionary gives two uses and both are ordinary: the small light blinking on and off (電気がちかちかする, 星がちかちか光る), and the eyes that this glare hurts (目がちかちかする). This card teaches the second one — hence the sentences about the person looking. The separate word ぴかぴか speaks of a steady, strong shine; it is no voicing pair, because 半濁点 belongs to the は row: the plain counterpart of ぴか is ひか (from 光る), not ちか. What separates them is the root, not the diacritic. ちらちら flickers too, but it describes the thing that flickers — snow, a light, something caught out of the corner of the eye; the ちかちか of this card is about the eyes that the glare hurts.
Examples
- ライトが細かく点滅して、目がちかちかと痛い。The light flickers finely and my eyes sting.
- 細かい光が瞬き続け、目がちかちかして痛い。Tiny lights keep twinkling and my eyes sting.
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