English approximations
- quietly hurt
- let down by someone close
- disappointed with lingering affection
- emotionally slighted
Relational Emotion
섭섭하다
seop-seop-ha-da
A quiet hurt felt when someone close fails to give the care or response one expected.
Component Spectrum
The expected emotional warmth one assumes in a close relationship.
A subtle wound that is not dramatic outwardly but lingers.
The felt emotional distance that suddenly appears between people.
Disappointment held back to avoid making the relationship awkward.
Attachment that remains even within disappointment.
Translation loss
English words like “disappointed” capture the letdown, but miss the relational layer: in 섭섭하다, hurt and attachment coexist toward the same person.
섭섭하다 forms where expectation, attachment, and restrained hurt remain in the same relationship.
Examples
- 생일인데 메시지 한 줄 없어서 괜히 섭섭했어.I felt quietly hurt when not even a short birthday message came from someone I expected to hear from.
- 도와준 건 고마운데, 끝나고 말 한마디 없이 가버리니 좀 섭섭하더라.I appreciated the help, but leaving without a word afterward felt emotionally slighting.
Nearby words
- 서운하다
서운하다 often centers on being overlooked, while 섭섭하다 more strongly carries the sting of unmet warmth in an existing bond. - 아쉽다
아쉽다 can be about regrettable outcomes in general; 섭섭하다 is specifically relational and emotionally personal. - 실망스럽다
실망스럽다 sounds evaluative and external; 섭섭하다 sounds intimate and inward.
Not exactly
- not pure anger
- not just regretting an outcome
- not a wish to sever the relationship
- more intimate than a formal complaint
Common contexts
- when a close person responds less warmly than expected
- after giving effort but receiving little acknowledgment
- when small courtesies go missing in a close relationship
- when the hurt is quiet but lingering