The Meaning of omoi [重い] In Japanese

重い
おもい
Romaji: omoi N5

What does 重い mean?

Translation and Meaning

heavy, weighty, serious

Definition

重い means heavy or weighty; it describes something difficult to lift as well as figurative heaviness such as burden, gravity, or seriousness in a situation.

Type

adjective (い-adjective)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • Physical weight: describes tangible objects that are hard to lift or carry.
  • Figurative weight: conveys seriousness, gravity, or importance of a matter.
  • Emotional or mental heaviness: expresses a heavy feeling or fatigue affecting mood or energy.
  • In compounds or set phrases to indicate burden or cumbersome conditions.

Origin

Origin: The sense of heaviness is ancient in Japanese; the kanji 重 was borrowed from Chinese and became common in classical texts, with the modern i-adjective form established through historical language development.

Composition

  • 重: primary meaning is heavy; used in compounds to signify weight, heaviness, or importance
  • い: i-adjective ending that marks the word as a descriptive attribute

Usage

Used across casual and formal contexts to describe physical heaviness or abstract heaviness such as burden or seriousness; it directly modifies nouns or appears in predicative constructions, and it can express personal state and conditions with phrases like 心が重い.
💡 Tips
Mnemonic: imagine a scale with weights stacked on top of each other (two blocks forming 重); the more weight stacked, the heavier the quality, and the -い ending marks it as a property.

Variations

  • 軽い (karui) — light
  • 重たい (omotai) — heavier or emphatic variant (same core meaning, more forceful)
  • 重大な (juudai na) — serious/important (related nuance)

Example Phrases

  • 重い 荷物を 背中で 感じながら 電車を 降りた。
    Omoi nimotsu o senaka de kanjinagara densha o orita.
    I got off the train, feeling the heavy luggage on my back.
    Lista:
    • 重い (omoi) – heavy
    • 荷物を (nimotsu o) – luggage (object)
    • 背中で (senaka de) – on the back
    • 感じながら (kanjinagara) – while feeling
    • 電車を (densha o) – train (object)
    • 降りた (orita) – got off
    The target word 「重い」 describes 荷物 here; 「を」 marks the direct object, and 感じながら shows doing two actions at once.
重い