Meaning & use
wabi-sabi
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
A Japanese way of seeing beauty in things that are plain, worn, imperfect, or incomplete.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun, often after 'the': the wabi-sabi of an old bowl.
Patterns
- the wabi-sabi of something
- a sense of wabi-sabi
- find wabi-sabi in something
Her pottery has a quiet wabi-sabi that comes from uneven edges and rough clay.
He finds wabi-sabi in the cracked, mended teapot his grandmother left him.
The garden was designed around wabi-sabi, so nothing in it looks new or perfect.
adjectivenot comparable
Showing this kind of simple, imperfect beauty, especially in design or art.
Grammar: Used before a noun, as in 'a wabi-sabi mood'; it is not usually compared.
Patterns
- a wabi-sabi style
- a wabi-sabi look
- feel wabi-sabi
The whole room has a wabi-sabi feel, with bare wood and unpainted walls.
They chose a wabi-sabi approach for the wedding, using wild flowers and handmade paper.
Common combinations
- a sense of wabi-sabi
- The old farmhouse has a strong sense of wabi-sabi.
- find wabi-sabi in something
- You can find wabi-sabi in a chipped cup or a faded cloth.
- the wabi-sabi aesthetic
- The wabi-sabi aesthetic rejects anything shiny or mass-produced.
- wabi-sabi design
- Wabi-sabi design often uses natural materials that age well.
- embrace wabi-sabi
- After years of chasing perfection, she learned to embrace wabi-sabi.
Synonyms and how they differ
- imperfection
- This names the flaw itself, not the idea that flaws can be beautiful, so it does not carry the positive meaning.
- rustic
- This describes a plain country style and is close in feeling, but it says nothing about accepting wear or damage.
- minimalism
- This is about using very little, while wabi-sabi is more about accepting age and unevenness.
Opposites
Word family
- wabi noun
- The older Japanese idea of simple, lonely beauty, one half of the pair.
- sabi noun
- The older Japanese idea of beauty that comes with age and wear, the other half.
Commonly confused: wabi-sabi or wasabi?
wabi-sabi vs wasabi
Wasabi is a hot green paste eaten with sushi; wabi-sabi is about beauty in plain, worn things.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'wabi-sabi' in its usual way?
Choose one answer.
Wabi-sabi is an idea about finding beauty in what is imperfect and worn, so the mismatched, scratched chairs fit. Option A describes wasabi, the hot paste, which sounds similar but is a different word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wabi-sabi”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.