しんどい (shindoi)

What it means

1. 1.

   Exhausting; hard going. Covers physical tiredness and emotional strain alike, and is the usual word for a period of life that is simply difficult.

2. 2.

   Among younger speakers, also used of something so lovely it is overwhelming — 顔がしんどい, 'his face is too much for me'.

   A recent inversion, parallel to 尊い. Older speakers use only the 'exhausting' sense.

Examples with translations

• 最近ちょっとしんどいわ。

  Things have been a bit much lately.

• この坂しんどい。

  This hill is brutal.

Where it comes from

Generally traced to 心労 (shinrō), 'mental strain', reshaped into an adjective. Kansai in origin and still commonest there, but understood and used across the country.

Other forms

Romanised as:

shindoi