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🇯🇵Japanese Source WordCode: JA

浮浪児

Pronunciation / Transliteration: furōji

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Waif/weɪf/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #14500 frequency
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🇯🇵 Example Sentence in Japanese:

"彼女はか弱く、どこか寂しげな浮浪児のようだった。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A homeless, neglected, or abandoned person, especially a homeless child.

    "The Victorian novel tells the story of a lonely waif surviving on the harsh London streets."
  2. 2

    A very thin, slender, and delicate-looking person, typically a woman or child.

    "She had the delicate appearance of a waif, with huge expressive eyes and a fragile frame."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from Old Norse 'veifa' (to wave, waver) through Anglo-Norman French 'waif' or 'gwaif', originally denoting a stray animal or ownerless property. By the 16th century, the meaning broadened to refer to a homeless, neglected, or solitary person, especially an orphaned child.

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