Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The phenomenon whereby an individual becomes a recluse from society, typically confining him- or herself to the house or a single room for a very long period.
  • noun countable A reclusive person of this kind.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Japanese 引きこもり

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Examples

  • I think there's a big social and spiritual crisis in Japan, a turning inwards and becoming isolated, which we call hikikomori.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Ivan Hewett 2011

  • Among them are cheeseball, which refers to someone or something lacking taste, style or originality, and the more disturbing phenomenon of hikikomori, the Japanese word for the acute social withdrawal that occurs in some teenage boys.

    Climate change and the vuvuzela leave mark on Oxford Dictionary of English 2010

  • A few days after our post on 'hikikomori' - the extreme social withdrawal increasingly seen in Japanese adolescents - the New York Times published an in-depth article on the controversy surrounding the phenomenon.

    Mind Hacks: January 2006 Archives 2006

  • A few days after our post on 'hikikomori' - the extreme social withdrawal increasingly seen in Japanese adolescents - the New York Times published an in-depth article on the controversy surrounding the phenomenon.

    Mind Hacks: New York Times on 'hikikomori' 2006

  • In Shaking Tokyo an agoraphobic (known as a hikikomori in Japan) rescues a pizza delivery girl during an earthquake and falls in love with her.

    Brad Balfour: Q & A: French Directors Michel Gondry and Leos Carax Take On Tokyo! 2009

  • Sociologists say a rising number of Japanese youngsters suffer from a mental malady called hikikomori, or social-withdrawal syndrome.

    Very Handy Handymen 2007

  • It should also be noted that nobody has yet presented evidence (except perhaps the mass media and politicians) that the population of "hikikomori" in Japan is any higher than in other countries - socially isolated people exist in large numbers in any society.

    AnimeBlogger.net Antenna 2010

  • It should also be noted that nobody has yet presented evidence (except perhaps the mass media and politicians) that the population of "hikikomori" in Japan is any higher than in other countries - socially isolated people exist in large numbers in any society.

    AnimeBlogger.net Antenna 2010

  • In voiceover the male protagonist, a "hikikomori" (shut-in) describes life inside his apartment as the camera drifts about the tiny yet organized flat, exquisite lighting tapping into the pathos of shadows.

    SpoutBlog 2009

  • '' Some think cosplay is done by people who shut themselves off from society, '' Otsuka said, referring to the behavior of reclusive people called '' hikikomori '' in Japanese.

    Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion 2009

Comments

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  • �?��??�?�もり (I hope!)

    February 28, 2007

  • A shut-in (recluse).

    Made famous by the novel/manga/anime Welcome to the NHK. Though "NHK" stands for "Nippon H�?s�? Ky�?kai" (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), in Welcome to the NHK it is said to actually stand for "Nihon Hikikomori Ky�?kai" (Japanese Hikikomori Association), which is a conspiracy to turn young people into hikikomori.

    September 7, 2008

  • 引き籠もり (since sarra's entry looks broken).

    March 28, 2010

  • I thought hikikomori went way deeper than 'recluse', also that it specifically pertained to the young (whereas we associate reclusivity with older individuals?)

    March 29, 2010