Aswipda (아쉽다) Meaning: Korean's Word for "So Close"
The feeling when something good ends too soon, or almost happened. English needs a whole sentence for it.
4 min read
What 아쉽다 means
아쉽다 (aswipda) is the small ache of not quite enough. A holiday ends, a friend has to leave early, your team loses by one point, the last slice of cake is gone. It is not deep grief and not anger. It is the wish that things had lasted a little longer or gone a little better.
You will hear it constantly in everyday Korean: 아쉽다! after a near miss, 아쉬워요 when someone has to leave, 아쉽지만 ("it's a pity, but…") before turning down an invitation.
Forms you will meet
| Korean | Use | Natural English |
|---|---|---|
| 아쉬워요 / 아쉽다 | describing the feeling | what a shame, it's a pity, I wish… |
| 아쉬워하다 | someone else feels it | be disappointed, be sorry, miss |
| 아쉬운 작별 | a parting with that feeling | a reluctant goodbye, parting with regret |
| 아쉬움 | the noun | regret, disappointment, a sense of loss |
| 아쉽지만 | softening a refusal | unfortunately, sadly |
아쉽다 in real stories
Real lines from our library, Korean and English side by side.
- The Cloud Dream of the Nine (Korean classic, B1): 다음 날 아침 아쉬운 작별을 했어요. — "…the next morning they parted with regret."
- The Story Girl (B1): "She was so disappointed she missed you." — 그 애는 너희를 못 만나서 무척 아쉬워했어.
- The Boy Who Loved Beetles (B1): "…at the time I was only sorry not to have three hands instead of two." — 손이 세 개였으면 좋았겠다고 아쉬워할 뿐이었어요.
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Alice's Evidence (A2): "…with a mix of relief and disappointment…" — 안도와 아쉬움이 뒤섞인 기분으로…
- The Fir Tree (A2): "…it was sorry to leave its home." — 정든 곳을 떠나는 것이 못내 아쉬웠어요.
Why English needs so many words
Regret, disappointed, sorry, disappointment, sorry to leave: five English choices for one Korean feeling. Darwin is the clearest case. He is not sad about the beetle he lost; he is wishing, almost comically, for one more hand. That wistful "if only" is the core of 아쉽다.
A good rule: if you could add "…if only" to the English, 아쉽다 probably fits.
Read it in context
Read The Cloud Dream of the Nine in Korean with English one tap away, or open any English classic and switch it to Korean. Tap a word like 아쉬웠어요 and the offline dictionary shows its meaning, even with the endings attached. Our guide on how to read Korean has the routine.
Put it into practice