Ikigai
n.hopeful, joyfulwarm
What it means
A Japanese idea describing what gives a person's life value, meaning, or a reason to live.
Reach for it when naming a personally sustaining source of meaning without reducing it to a career formula
Teaching traditional songs became one part of her ikigai after retirement.
Choose between these
6- everyday
a guiding reason for action is the main idea
not when Purpose can be imposed by duty, while ikigai is personally life-giving.
- everyday
reason for living
clarity matters more than preserving the Japanese term
not when The phrase can sound grave and misses the ordinary pleasures ikigai may include.
- warm
calling
work or service feels deeply suited to the person
not when Calling often implies vocation or destiny and is narrower than ikigai.
- warm
fulfillment
satisfaction from living in line with values is central
not when Fulfillment describes a result, not the continuing source that draws someone forward.
- formal
the concern is how life feels significant or coherent
not when Meaning is abstract and lacks the everyday motivating quality of ikigai.
- formal
meaning is specifically found in sustained work or service
not when Vocation excludes relationships, hobbies, and routines that can form an ikigai.
Said against
3- aimlessness
- emptiness
- listlessness
It naturally appears in
3- sense of ikigai
The garden gave him a renewed sense of ikigai each morning.
- find ikigai
She did not expect to find ikigai in a weekly repair circle.
- source of ikigai
Caring for the neighborhood orchard became a source of ikigai.
Usage notes
Popular four-circle diagrams are not part of the cited dictionary definition and are not treated here as the meaning of ikigai.