繕う

つくろう

Meanings

1. Godan verb, Transitive to mend; to patch up; to repair; to fix; to darn
2. to fix (hair, clothes, appearance, etc.); to adjust; to tidy up; to groom
3. to keep up appearances; to cover up (e.g. a mistake); to gloss over
4. to treat (illness, injury, etc.)

Kanji

• 繕 mend. Read as つくろう.

Example sentences

• おまえのジーンズの綻びを彼女に繕ってもらいなさい。
  Ask her if she'll sew up the hole in your jeans.
• 世間体を繕う心配をするより他にやることがある。
  We have other things to do than worry about keeping up appearances.
• 彼女はなんとか体裁を繕った。
  She managed to keep up appearances.

Words containing 繕う

• 言い繕う (いいつくろう) to explain away (a mistake, failure, etc.)
• 繕い立てる (つくろいたてる) to put up a good front

Word lists

• JLPT N1

Jinuma: Japanese Dictionary · Word lists