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SILVER ERA · ことばを、少しずつ。
JLPT BANDN5 BEGINNER → N1 ADVANCED

はかない

N1
hakanai
  1. fleeting
  2. transient
  3. short-lived
  4. momentary
  5. vain
  6. fickle
  7. miserable
  8. empty
  9. ephemeral
い-adjective

Also written 儚い

Chinese meanings

短暂;虚幻

Examples

  • 人じん生せいは、はかない夢ゆめにすぎない。
    Life is but an empty dream.
    人生不过是一场短暂的梦。
  • 人ひとの人じん生せいは、はかないものだ。
    The life of a person is a transient thing.
    人的一生是短暂的。
Use this entry in code
import { getVocabById } from 'kotowa';
getVocabById('59c95b5d68'); // はかない
{
  "id": "59c95b5d68",
  "word": "はかない",
  "reading": "はかない",
  "romaji": "hakanai",
  "meanings": [
    "fleeting",
    "transient",
    "short-lived",
    "momentary",
    "vain",
    "fickle",
    "miserable",
    "empty",
    "ephemeral"
  ],
  "level": "N1",
  "pos": [
    "adj-i"
  ],
  "jmdict_id": 1600630,
  "other_forms": [
    "儚い"
  ],
  "examples": [
    {
      "ja": "人生は、はかない夢にすぎない。",
      "furigana": "{人生|じんせい}は、はかない{夢|ゆめ}にすぎない。",
      "en": "Life is but an empty dream.",
      "tatoeba_id": 144004
    },
    {
      "ja": "人の人生は、はかないものだ。",
      "furigana": "{人|ひと}の{人生|じんせい}は、はかないものだ。",
      "en": "The life of a person is a transient thing.",
      "tatoeba_id": 144588
    }
  ],
  "zh": {
    "status": "reviewed",
    "source_hash": "fe8c8f697c6389b8993d347d46b0c969362debb56dee2c3833a76bb49e9d17a3",
    "meanings": [
      "短暂",
      "虚幻"
    ],
    "examples": [
      {
        "ja": "人生は、はかない夢にすぎない。",
        "zh": "人生不过是一场短暂的梦。"
      },
      {
        "ja": "人の人生は、はかないものだ。",
        "zh": "人的一生是短暂的。"
      }
    ],
    "references": [
      "upstream vocab/n1/59c95b5d68",
      "JMdict ent_seq 1600630; checked against downloaded JMdict_e.gz on 2026-10-28",
      "Original Chinese authored and reviewed by Codex; no independent human review"
    ],
    "reviewer": "Codex",
    "review_method": "ai",
    "reviewed_at": "2026-10-28",
    "review_hash": "49318906539738deeaf7e89c3190bfd16ab9c52cb76beb73caf63935dee29b65"
  }
}