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深い

fukai

A river, a sleep and a friendship can all be 'deep'

The picture You reach down from the surface and keep going, and the bottom is still further down. 深い is a bottom far from the surface; 浅い is a bottom sitting just under it.

Describing words

Where the picture shows up in 深い

  1. deep water

    この川は深いので気をつけてください。

    kono kawa wa fukai node ki o tsuke-te kudasai

    This river is deep, so please be careful.

    Water up to a wader's shoulders while her toes grope for the bottom

  2. a deep wound

    傷が深いですね。

    kizu ga fukai desu ne

    That's a deep cut.

    An open cut whose line runs down past the skin into the flesh

  3. deep sleep

    昨日は深く眠れました。

    kinō wa fukaku nemure-mashita

    I slept deeply last night.

    The alarm goes off and the body doesn't stir, sunk under the quilt

  4. a deep bond

    二人は付き合いが深いです。

    futari wa tsukiai ga fukai desu

    Those two go way back.

    Two pairs of hands refilling each other's cups without a word

  5. deep meaning

    この言葉には深い意味があります。

    kono kotoba ni wa fukai imi ga ari-masu

    These words carry a deep meaning.

    One short line read, the paper set down, and a long stare at the ceiling

    深い also works for colors, flavors and fog — anything thick and dense.

All of it in one picture

深い is one measurement: surface to bottom. Far in a river and your feet don't touch; far in a wound and it has gone into the flesh; far in sleep and shaking won't wake you. Far between two people is a bond built over years, and far in a sentence is a line you have to sit with before you see its floor.

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