Word
wabi sabi
Phoneticswabi-s·abi
Definition
n. a way of seeing beauty in things that are imperfect, old, or simple. It is a Japanese idea that values the natural marks of time and use rather than perfect, shiny objects.
n. a Japanese aesthetic philosophy centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. It values the rustic, the weathered, and the asymmetrical over polished or mass-produced ideals.
Examples
“The cracked bowl is a beautiful example of wabi-sabi.”
“Instead of replacing the old wooden table, she embraced its wabi-sabi charm, appreciating every scratch and water ring as part of its history.”
“Architects often incorporate wabi-sabi principles by using raw materials like unpolished stone and weathered wood, allowing the building to evolve alongside its natural environment.”
Examples
simple
“The cracked bowl is a beautiful example of wabi-sabi.”
contextual
“Instead of replacing the old wooden table, she embraced its wabi-sabi charm, appreciating every scratch and water ring as part of its history.”
complex
“Architects often incorporate wabi-sabi principles by using raw materials like unpolished stone and weathered wood, allowing the building to evolve alongside its natural environment.”
Usage
Typically functions as an uncountable noun; can also be used as a modifier before another noun.
Real-World Examples
“The term 'wabi-sabi' draws from Japanese ideas of 'wabi', which suggests simplicity and imperfection, and 'sabi', which reflects the solitude of the human journey through time.” “Wabi-sabi is a concept that finds beauty in rustic simplicity, in objects worn by age, imperfect and transient.” “Wabi-sabi offers a refuge from the modern world's obsession with perfection, and accepts imperfections as all the more meaningful – and, in their own way, beautiful.” “One of the earliest to emerge was wabi-sabi, a Japanese philosophy rooted in Buddhism that finds beauty in imperfection and impermanence; examples include deliberately misshapen bowls used in tea ceremonies and bonsai trees displayed even after they’ve shed their leaves.” Etymology
From Japanese わび・さび or 侘び寂び (wabi-sabi), the term names an aesthetic cultivated in Japanese culture: the beauty of imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness. The compound joins wabi, originally a noun for solitude or loneliness, with sabi, whose early sense carried connotations of desolation or aged wear.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/wabi-sabi