A water absorbent sheet structure comprising an absorbent layer, which is characterized in that: the top face and/or bottom face of the water absorbent sheet structure are embossed； a wave pattern emboss (2) is provided in the center area (W1) of the water absorbent sheet structure (1), said wave pattern emboss extending along the longitudinal direction and being cut off at one or more points； linear embosses (4) are provided from the individual tops (3) of the wave pattern formed by the wave pattern emboss (2)； and the embossed area in the water absorbent sheet structure (1) amounts to 2-25% of the whole area of the water absorbent sheet structure (1). An absorbent article wherein the aforesaid water absorbent sheet structure is held between a liquid-permeable sheet and a liquid impermeable sheet. According to the present invention, a water absorbent sheet structure, which shows a high liquid permeation speed and little liquid leakage even in the case of having an extremely small pulp content, can be provided by embossing, in a specific pattern, at least the top or bottom face of the water absorbent sheet structure.
