Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
チンピラ. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
チンピラ, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
チンピラ in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
チンピラ you have here. The definition of the word
チンピラ will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
チンピラ, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Japanese
Etymology
Unknown. Appears in texts from the early 1900s.
Early uses referred to young pickpockets. May have originally been a compound of ちん (chin, slang prefix indicating “small, little”, sometimes even spelled 小) + 片 (hira, “piece or scrap of paper”).
Pronunciation
Noun
チンピラ or ちんぴら • (chinpira)
- a child or other youth putting on airs and acting arrogantly
- a chav, a bogan
- a hoodlum, a minor criminal, a hooligan, a punk
- 近所のチンピラ
- kinjo no chinpira
- a neighborhood punk
1967, Kazuo Ōkubo, Aka to kuro, translation of Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendhal:
- もちろんアカデミ会員の甥で、将来教授となるべきタンボーという名のあのちんぴら文士のことなどお忘れになっていることだろう。
- Mochiron Akademi kaīn no oi de, shōrai kyōju to naru beki Tanbō to iu mei no ano chinpira bunshi no koto nado owasure ni natte iru koto darō.
- He is of course the nephew of a member of the Academy, a future professor by the name of Tambor, a literary hoodlum destined to be forgotten.
- an apprentice yakuza, a low-ranking gangster, a young member of an organized crime group
1996, Jirō Akagawa, Shinguru, →ISBN, page 131:
- 本当にチンピラなので、もし和代の方で見たとしても、顔は分らなかったろう。しかし、チンピラの方では、しっかり和代の顔が頭に入っていたのだ。
- Hontō ni chinpira na no de, moshi Kazuyo no hō de mita to shite mo, kao wa wakaranakattarō. Shikashi, chinpira no hō de wa, shikkari Kazuyo no kao ga atama ni haitte ita no da.
- Because he’s a real low-level guy, even if Kazuyo sees him, she won’t know his face, right. But those low-level guys absolutely have Kazuyo’s face in mind.
Usage notes
The katakana spelling may be more common.
References
- ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
- ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
Further reading