A definition of 辛気臭い【しんきくさい】 (三省堂）：

> 思うようにならず、いらいらするさま。また、気がめいるさま

Nara often implies something happening naturally, zu stands for 'without', so
does the whole compound adverb stand for 'subconsciously'? 'without thinking'?
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2015-03-10T13:52:20.143
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grammar
思うようにならず - what does it mean?
This means something like 思うようにならない、（そして）いらいらする様子。  
ならず is a different form of the negation. You can get more detailed information
here: [What is the difference between the negative forms -ず and
-ぬ?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/235/what-is-the-difference-
between-the-negative-forms-%E3%81%9A-and-%E3%81%AC)
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2015-03-10T14:24:30.113
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A wild grammatical construction appears!

思うようにならず, ~~ is the same as saying 思うようにならないで, ~~

行かず = 行かないで

ご飯を食べず, 寝ました (Went to bed without eating dinner)

* * *

If something was 思うようになる then it would be "conceivable"

so 思うようにならないで, ~ is something like "inconceivably" or "does not even lend to
imagining" perhaps.
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2015-03-10T18:56:03.850
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> Nara often implies something happening naturally, zu stands for 'without',
> so does the whole compound adverb stand for 'subconsciously'? 'without
> thinking'?

No. First of all, Nara is 動詞{どうし}, a verb. But you are correct in that this
indicates "something happening naturally", since we call this なる,
無意識動詞{むいしきどうし}, literally _a verb without consciousness_.

Second, zu **does not** denote "without", but, to quote
[this](https://web.archive.org/web/20190302111452/http://www.geocities.jp/nm3032nakatsu/koten/kt04.html)
source:

> **ず ①～ない （打ち消し）** ( around the middle of the linked page )

but denotes **denial** (which is an auxiliary). In this phrase, it denies the
above verb "naru/なる”.

### Grammar Breakdown

思うようにならない。 ＝思う(連体形{れんたいけい}), in English _to think_ + よう（様）に an auxiliary,
連用形{れんようけい}, in English _as I expect_ + なら the verb, 連用形, in English ( _to
become_ ) + ない。the auxiliary, 終止形{しゅうしけい}, in English, _denying the former
verb/auxiliary/adjective verb, etc_.

So the whole meaning is " **Not having gone as I had expected** ".
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