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きまず kimazu
Well, this is awkward.
What does kimazu mean?
Clipped from kimazui. For elevator silences and for bumping into exactly the person you were avoiding.
Example
元カレと同じ電車、きまず。
Same train as my ex. So awkward.
Vibe
Who you can say this to, and how it lands.
Friends only Casual. Natural with friends, out of place at work or with strangers.
The story behind kimazu
Japanese has a habit of lopping the ends off adjectives when speed matters more than grammar. The full word for awkward loses its tail and becomes kimazu, which lands harder precisely because it is unfinished, like a wince rendered in text.
The clipping trend belongs mainly to messaging, where an extra syllable costs time and tidiness sounds oddly formal. What the word covers is the true universal: the elevator that arrives with exactly the wrong person inside, the silence after a joke lands wrong, the moment you wave at someone waving at the person behind you. Every language needs this. Japanese made it three syllables.
Get kimazu in your pocket
きまず 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.
