鼾
ibiki[ibʲikʲi]
Snoring in Japanese is 鼾 (ibiki). Wiktionary also lists 鼾声 (kansei).
Meaning: action or sound (noun)
Ways to say it
| Japanese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| 鼾 | ibiki | [ibʲikʲi] (narrow) [kɯ̟t͡sɨt͡ɕi] (narrow) |
| 鼾声 | kansei | [kã̠ɰ̃se̞ː] (narrow) |
The term refers to the action or sound of snoring. It is most commonly used in the verbal phrase いびきをかく to mean "to snore".
How does it change in a sentence?
While the kanji 鼾 is used in formal writing, the word is most frequently written in hiragana as いびき in everyday Japanese.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is ibiki.
Did you know?
Examples in context
- いびきがうるさいですね。The snoring is loud, isn't it?
- 彼はいびきをかいています。He is snoring.
- 彼はすごいいびきをかいてるよ。He's snoring so loudly.
- あの人、夜中にいびきをひいているんだよ。That person snores in the middle of the night.
Example conversation
Misaki wakes up Yota in the morning.
- 美咲 Misaki陽太、起きて！Yota, okite!Yota, wake up!
- 陽太 Yotaん、おはよう。n, ohayou.Hmm, good morning.
- 美咲 Misakiすごい鼾をかいていたよ。sugoi ikigori o kaite ita yo.You were snoring so much.
- 陽太 Yota本当に？ごめんね。hontou ni? gomen ne.Really? I'm sorry.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “snoring” translations and entries 鼾, 鼾声, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 鼾, 鼾声, CC BY-SA 4.0.
