English

Alternative forms

• harakiri
• hari-kari (nonstandard)
• harikari (nonstandard)
• harikiri

Noun

hara-kiri ‎(uncountable)

1. 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.
   • 1899, William George Aston, A History of Japanese Literature, page 231

     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.

2. Suicide or any suicidal action.
3. (by extension, figuratively) An act against one's own interests.
   • 1982–1983, Paul Johnson, Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Eighties, revised and printed as […] to the Nineties, HarperCollins (2001), ISBN 978-0-06-093550-4, page 393:

     Regarded logically, therefore, Japan’s decision to go to war made no sense. It was hara-kiri.

   • 1987, in The Economist, Volume 304, Issues 7505–7513, page 1:

     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.

   • 2008 April 5, Anurag Prasad, “Virgin Territory”, in Outlook Business, Volume 3, Number 7, page 50:

     But with GSM players lobbying hard for more spectrum, taking MVNOs on board now would be hara-kiri.

Synonyms

• (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen): seppuku

Derived terms

• commit hara-kiri
• political hara-kiri

Translations

See also

• bushido
• kamikaze
• seppuku
• suicide

Anagrams

• harikari, hari-kari

French

Alternative forms

• harakiri

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /a.ʁa ki.ʁi/
• Rhymes: -i
• Homophones: harakiri, harakiris, hara-kiris

Noun

hara-kiri m ‎(plural hara-kiris)

1. hara-kiri (suicide by ripping open the stomach)

See also

• éventrement
• éventrer

Portuguese

Noun

hara-kiri m (plural hara-kiris)

1. Alternative spelling of haraquiri