Neutral term for a tangible item, product, or article, often used in commercial or descriptive contexts.
This is quite a troublesome thing to deal with.
This shop carries a lot of unusual goods.
The newly developed product is lighter than conventional ones.
Often used to appraise something, especially with irony, sarcasm, or mild disdain. Can refer to objects, situations, or people.
What he brought was an outrageous thing.
What on earth is that fellow thinking?
Archaic euphemism for a prostitute, now obsolete.
In Edo-period documents, 代物 sometimes refers to a courtesan.
Archaic usage for price or cost; no longer used in modern Japanese.
In old documents, 代物 is sometimes used to mean payment.
He was selling something called a 'magic potion.'
This isn't something a beginner can easily handle.
物 is the plain, general word for a thing, while 代物 usually singles out an item as notably good, bad, or strange.
曲者 stresses that a person or thing is tricky or hard to handle, close to the ironic, wary tone 代物 can have when describing something troublesome.
Standard kanji spelling.
Kana spelling is common in casual writing.
Katakana spelling is used for emphasis or in informal contexts.
Compound of 代 (しろ, 'substitute, price') + 物 (もの, 'thing'). Originally referred to something of value or a substitute, later broadening to mean an article or thing, often with an evaluative nuance.