The Sound of Quiet Tears

シクシク (shikushiku) is the sound of soft, sustained crying — not the loud ワーン (waan) of a startled toddler, and not the angry gulping sob of heartbreak. It’s the steady, hushed weeping of genuine, quiet sadness: a child who lost a pet, a teenager who thinks no one can hear, an adult who has nowhere else to let it out. In manga, it’s often written in smaller katakana beside a character’s shoulder, their hand or sleeve pressed to their eyes.

シクシク belongs to the giseigo (擬声語) category — onomatopoeia for voiced sounds made by humans and animals. Japanese has five types of onomatopoeia, and giseigo specifically captures the actual vocal noises people and creatures produce.

When to Use シクシク

Use シクシク for subdued, prolonged crying — quiet sobs rather than wailing or angry tears. The most common patterns are 「シクシク泣く」(shikushiku naku, “to weep softly”) and 「シクシクする」(shikushiku suru, “to be quietly crying”). There’s a second, completely separate meaning too: シクシク describes a dull, throbbing, nagging pain — especially stomach aches, toothaches, or lingering internal discomfort. Context makes clear which meaning is intended. For loud bawling, use ワンワン (wanwan) or ギャーギャー (gyaagyaa); for single fat tears welling up, use ぽろぽろ (poroporo).

Fun Fact

シクシク泣く (shikushiku naku) is considered a particularly gentle and almost dignified way to cry in Japanese — the kind of crying that preserves the crier’s composure and asks nothing of the listener. In classical Japanese literature, aristocratic women of the Heian court are frequently described シクシク-ing behind sleeves and screens, where open weeping would have been considered unrefined. The sound has carried that quietly elegant connotation for over a thousand years.