Cutting word (kireji) is a pivotal element in traditional Japanese haiku, functioning as a verbal punctuation mark that creates a pause, shift, or emotional inflection between two images or ideas; though untranslatable directly into English, its effect is often rendered through dashes, ellipses, or line breaks to preserve the haiku’s characteristic juxtaposition and resonance.

A cutting word (kireji) in Japanese poetry, especially haiku, creates a pause or emotional shift, often at line end; it functions like punctuation but carries tonal weight, separating or linking images.