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🇮🇹Italian Source WordCode: IT

wabi-sabi

Pronunciation / Transliteration: wabi sabi

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Wabi-sabi/ˌwɑːbi ˈsɑːbi/
nounCEFR C2 (Proficient)Top #8500 frequency
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🇮🇹 Example Sentence in Italian:

"Il wabi-sabi è un concetto estetico giapponese legato all'imperfezione."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A traditional Japanese aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection, appreciating beauty that is incomplete, impermanent, and flawed.

    "The artisan's pottery embraced wabi-sabi, with its uneven glaze and subtle cracks telling a unique story of age."
As adjective
  1. 1

    Characterized by a rustic, unpretentious beauty arising from age, wear, or imperfections.

    "Her living room had a distinctly wabi-sabi feel, decorated with weathered wood, faded linens, and handcrafted earthenware."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from Japanese aesthetics, 'wabi' originally referred to the loneliness of living in nature, away from society, but evolved to mean rustic simplicity and understated elegance. 'Sabi' referred to the bloom of time, signifying the beauty that comes with age, wear, and impermanence. Together, the compound concept represents a foundational Japanese worldview centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.

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