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ぐったり guttari
Completely wilted, zero energy left.
What does guttari mean?
The limp, boneless state after a heatwave, a long shift or a fever. Plants, dogs and humans all do it the same way.
Example
暑さで犬までぐったりしている。
Even the dog has gone limp in this heat.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Safe to use Fine in ordinary conversation.
The story behind guttari
Japanese sound symbolism uses voiced consonants for weight, and you can feel it here. Gussuri is sleeping soundly and gently; guttari is the body giving up entirely. The heavy g plus the ri ending gives you one long collapse rather than a repeated motion: limbs loose, spine gone, plant wilted.
It shows up every summer in news reports about the heat, usually next to footage of a dog on a tiled floor. It also does serious work in medicine. Japanese guidance for parents lists a child being guttari as a warning sign worth acting on, because the word captures something a thermometer cannot: not tired, not sleepy, but drained of the energy to complain.
Get guttari in your pocket
ぐったり is one of 308 words in YABAI, a Japanese culture snack for Android. Every word comes with its meaning, an example sentence, a vibe check and a story like the one above — in 13 languages, read aloud by your device. Paid app: no ads, no sign-up, no subscription.
