慕

to adore; admire

Kanji 1788

With 慕 we can express nonromantic love, as in sentences that mean “The girl is deeply attached to her aunt,” “He is longing for his mother,” and “He was pining for his hometown.” But 慕 can also represent romantic adoration, as in “She went to Tokyo to follow the man she adored.” See why one would use 喪う over 失う and what it means to steer a ship up a mountain.

Revision history:

Apr. 19, 2023: 

• p. 3: In the vocab for the last sample sentence, I changed 後 (あと: after) to 後に (のちに: later (on)).
• p. 11: Instead of defining 心 and 乱れる separately, I have now defined the phrase 心が乱れる (こころがみだれる: to lose one's composure).

Apr. 13, 2023: Originally published.