Japanese word

懲りる

Pronunciation

Romajikoriru

Meaning

  • verblearn one's lesson

Example

彼は失敗して、もう懲りました。kare wa ship pai shi te mō ko ri ma shi ta

He learned his lesson after making a mistake.

Illustration for 懲りる (learn one's lesson)

More examples

彼は高い修理代に懲りて、物を丁寧に扱うようになりました。kare wa taka i shū ri dai ni ko ri te mono o tei nei ni atsuka u yō ni na ri ma shi ta

Having learned his lesson from the high repair bill, he started handling things carefully.

Core concept

It describes changing one's future behavior after an unpleasant experience or failure.

Common phrases

  • 失敗に懲りるship pai ni ko ri ru

    learn one's lesson from failure

  • 懲りずに挑戦するko ri zu ni chō sen su ru

    keep trying without learning one's lesson

Similar words

思い知るomoishiru: To realize the seriousness of something through a painful experience.
身に染みるminishimiru: To feel the truth or importance of something deeply through experience.

Definition in Japanese

失敗や不快な経験をして、同じことを二度とするまいと思う。ship pai ya fu kai na kei ken o shi te ona ji ko to o ni do to su ru ma i to omo u

Word origin

懲りる (koriru) is a native Japanese verb historically connected with 懲る (koru, "to be chastened"), and it retains the idea of being changed by a bad experience.

Usage tips

  • The phrase 懲りずに (korazu ni) means "without learning one's lesson" and often describes repeating an action after a bad result.

Other meanings

  • learn the hard wayverb
  • learn by experienceverb

Related words

  • 懲り懲りkorigorifed upna-adjective

Word lists with this word