カチンコチン

also: カチンカチン

Meanings

na-adjective

rock hard; stiff and unyielding

Describes something extremely hard or frozen solid, or a person who is rigid, tense, or inflexible in attitude.

冷れい凍とう庫こに入いれておいた肉にくがカチンコチンに凍こおっている。
The meat I put in the freezer is frozen rock hard.
彼かれは面めん接せつでカチンコチンになって、うまく話はなせなかった。
He became stiff and unyielding during the interview and couldn't speak well.

noun

clangor; clanging sound

Onomatopoeic use for a hard, metallic clanging noise, such as two hard objects striking each other repeatedly.

工こう事じ現げん場ばからカチンコチンという金きん属ぞく音おんが聞きこえる。
A clanging metallic sound can be heard from the construction site.

Related words

ガチガチ
ガチガチ also means hard or stiff, but often implies a grinding or chattering sound, and can describe a person who is overly serious or inflexible. カチンコチン emphasizes extreme hardness or frozen state.
コチコチ
コチコチ is similar but often used for something that has become hard due to cold or age, and can describe a person who is set in their ways. カチンコチン is more intense.

Written forms

カチンコチンUsage14%
Standard katakana spelling for this onomatopoeic word.
カチンカチンUsage66%
Variant with repeated カチン; less common but still used.
かちんかちんUsage16%
Hiragana variant of the カチンカチン form.
かちんこちんUsage4%
Hiragana spelling, often used in casual writing.

Etymology

Onomatopoeic word derived from the sound of hard objects striking each other (カチン) and the state of being hard (コチン). The exact derivation is uncertain, but it is a reduplicative mimetic word.