wabi

W4A1B3I1

noun

A quality of simple or solitary beauty, especially as expressed in various forms of Japanese art or culture.

Similar
Huave
OriginJapanese 侘び →
UncommonScrabble 9
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Meanings

wabi1

nounwabi (uncountable)
  1. uncountableZen BuddhismA quality of simple or solitary beauty, especially as expressed in various forms of Japanese art or culture.

    A lamp here, table, bookcase, print on the wall. The incredible Japanese sense of wabi.

    1962, Philip K. Dick, “The Man in the High Castle”, in Four Novels of the 1960s, Library of America, published 2007, page 94
    1 more example

    One of these changes would be the further refinement of the concept of wabi as an aesthetic ideal, and that was to be the work of Takeno Jōō, under whom the Way of Tea would mature.

    1998, Sen Sōshitsu XV, translated by V. Dixon Morris, The Japanese Way of Tea, page 146

Wabi2

nounWabi pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlySynonym of Huave (“a Mexican people”).

    Synonyms: Huave

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of Huave (“a Mexican people”).

Similar
Huave
Also see
huave

Origin

  1. Japanese侘び
  2. Englishwabi

From Japanese 侘び.

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

biwaBawi
Cite this entry
APA

wabi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wabi

MLA

“wabi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wabi. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wabi,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wabi.

Source: wabi on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.