恐らく

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
おそ
Grade: S
kun'yomi

Etymology

Abbreviation of (おそ)らくは (osoraku wa), itself a contraction of obsolete (おそ)るらくは (osoruraku wa), composed of (おそ) (osoru, to fear, obsolete earlier form of modern (おそ)れる (osoreru)) + らく (-raku, state, act, or fact of doing, nominalizing suffix) + (wa, topic particle).[1][2] Compare English use of the term afraid, as in the phrases “I'm afraid so”, or “I'm afraid that ...”, to express a sense of probably.

Pronunciation

Adverb

(おそ)らく (osoraku

  1. probably, in all likelihood

Usage notes

  • Usually written in hiragana.
  • The term osoraku expresses a higher degree of certainty than tabun.
  • Often used when predicting a negative outcome.

Synonyms

References

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN