wabi-sabi

/ˈwɑbiˈsɑbi/

noun

A Japanese aesthetic that derives from imperfection and transience.

“Tai purchased purple flowers in a wabi-sabi pot for Tara.”

OriginJapanese わび・さび →
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Meanings

nounwabi-sabi (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA Japanese aesthetic that derives from imperfection and transience.

    Tai purchased purple flowers in a wabi-sabi pot for Tara.

    3 more examples

    If Dot were to pick an ideology, hers would be wabi-sabi. Her life is full of decay and beauty in imperfection.

    2021, Jenni Fagan, Luckenbooth, William Heinemann, page 265

    Wabisabi is like this! Look! Look. It looks old, but it's not purposely made this way. With the, you know, time it's looking like this! But it still looks beautiful! That's WABISABI!

    2024 April 24, Matcha Samurai, Instagram

    If you're done with those, you can start assembling the crib. It's 437 interlockig pieces from Japan, but one of the them is missing to make it wabi-sabi.

    2026, Samantha Riley, “On No, I'm Still Talking” (18:18 from the start), in Anthony Chun, director, DANG!, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Ruthie, via Netflix

Origin

  1. Japaneseわび・さび
  2. Englishwabi-sabi

Borrowed from Japanese わび・さび or 侘び寂び (wabi-sabi)

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

wabi-sabi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wabi-sabi

MLA

“wabi-sabi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wabi-sabi. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wabi-sabi,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wabi-sabi.

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