Dictionary

hara-kiri en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌhɑɹəˈkɪɹi/
• /ˌhæɹəˈkɪɹi/
• /ˌhæɹiˈkæɹi/ widespread but nonstandard
• /ˌhɛɹiˈkɛɹi/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 腹切り (harakiri), ultimately from 腹 (hara, “belly”) + 切る (kiru, “to cut”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable) Ceremonial suicide by disembowelment, as by slicing open the abdomen with a dagger or knife: formerly practised in Japan by the samurai when disgraced or sentenced to death.
   • On the downfall of his power in 1867 he was urged by one of his Council to save the honour of his family by a voluntary suicide. He flatly refused to do so and left the room, whereupon his faithful adviser retired to another part of the castle and solemnly performed the hara-kiri. 1899, William George Aston, A History of Japanese Literature, page 231:
2. (uncountable) Suicide or any suicidal action.
   • ...the report that was issued at the time officially blamed a disgruntled crewman who had been accused of theft and may have decided to do the ultimate hara-kiri, but quite how you prove that I don't know... 2020 January 12, Drachinifel, 47:56 from the start, in The Drydock - Episode 076, archived from the original on 26 Sep 2022:
3. (broadly, figuratively, uncountable) An act against one's own interests.
   • But with GSM players lobbying hard for more spectrum, taking MVNOs on board now would be hara-kiri. 2008 April 5, Anurag Prasad, “Virgin Territory”, in Outlook Business, volume 3, number 7, page 50:
   • They are haunted by the spectre of the 1984 election, when Mr Walter Mondale committed hara-kiri by acknowledging the need to raise taxes if America were to get its economy straight. 1987, The Economist, volume 304, numbers 7505-7513, page 1:
   • Regarded logically, therefore, Japan’s decision to go to war made no sense. It was hara-kiri. 1982–1983, Paul Johnson, Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Eighties, revised and printed as […] to the Nineties, HarperCollins (2001), page 393

Forms

Relateds

seppuku · bushido · kamikaze · suicide

Synonyms

seppuku (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen)

Translations (37)

hy հարակիրի (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · uz harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · eo harakiro (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · ms harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · ur ہاراکری (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · ja 自殺 (suicide) · fi harakiri (self-destructive act) · pt hara-kiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · ja 切腹 (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · cmn 切腹 (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · ar هَارَا كِيرِي (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · haw pepehi make ana ʻia iā iho (suicide) · ml ഹരകിരി (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · nb harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · cmn 自殺 /自杀 (suicide) · ca harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · pt harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · fr hara-kiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · pt haraquiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · hy խարակիրի (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · de Harakiri (self-destructive act) · nn harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · ru сэппу́ку (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · de Harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · es haraquiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · gl haraquiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · he חרקירי (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · he הרקירי (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · fi harakiri (suicide) · id harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · es harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · sv harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · ja 腹切り (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · tr harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · ko 할복 (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · ru хараки́ри (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen) · fi harakiri (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen)