狸寝入り

Japanese

Kanji in this term
たぬき
Hyōgaiji

Grade: S

Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Etymology

From (tanuki, raccoon dog) + (ne, sleep) + 入り (iri, entering, stem of 入る (iru, to enter)), from raccoon dogs' way of playing dead under threat. Compare English play possum.

Pronunciation

Noun

狸寝入り (hiragana たぬきねいり, rōmaji tanukineiri)

  1. feigning sleep; playing possum
    • 2003 September 22, Uraku, Akinobu, “だい63 おさなおく [Chapter 63: Childish Memories]”, in とうきょうアンダーグラウンド [Tokyo Underground], volume 11 (fiction), Square Enix, →ISBN, page 99:
      わかってんじゃないだったら こんな () (じん) ()いて () () ()くつもり?
      Wakatten ja nai dattara Konna bijin o oite doko e iku tsumori?
      Hey, you’re just gonna go and abandon this beauty here?
       (たぬき) () ()とはいい (しゅ) ()してんな‼
      Tanukineiri to wa ii shumi shiten na‼
      Wow, is it fun feigning sleep for no reason⁉
       () (かい)よ アンタを (しん) (ぱい)して (ひと) (ばん) (じゅう) () ()ってあげたんだから…
      Gokai yo Anta o shinpai shite hitobanjū tsuresotte agetan da kara…
      Nah, it’s just that I was worrying about my man all night long…

Verb

狸寝入りする (hiragana たぬきねいりする, rōmaji tanukineiri suru)

  1. to feign sleep; to play possum

Conjugation

References

  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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