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Why JLPT N2 learners mix up 憧れる (あこがれる, “to long for, to yearn after, to admire”) and すっきり (すっきり, “shapely, clear, neat”).
Both describe internal emotional states. 憧れる (akogareru) is a yearning or 'longing for' something external, while すっきり (sukkiri) is an internal feeling of 'clarity' or 'relief' once a burden is removed.
On JLPT N2, this pair shows up as a vocabulary meaning question. You see one word and pick its English equivalent from four options — one of which will be the other word in this pair, chosen as a distractor precisely because of the overlap.
Reading the explanation is step one. Targeted practice is what actually moves a confusion pair out of your weak list. Free, no signup needed to try.
Practice N2 confusion pairsSpot a mistake in this explanation? Email us. Explanations are AI-generated and human-reviewed; corrections welcome.