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十中八九 (じっちゅうはっく) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

十じっ中ちゅう八はっ九く

also: じゅっちゅうはっく · じゅうちゅうはっく

じ

っ

ちゅ

う

は

っ

く

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

adverb, noun

in all probability; nine times out of ten

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

Used to express a very high likelihood; often appears as an adverbial phrase. A yojijukugo (four-character compound).

十じっ中ちゅう八はっ九く、彼かれは遅ち刻こくするだろう。
In all probability, he will be late.
十

じっ

中ちゅう

八はっ

九く

、

明日あした

は

雨あめ

だ

。

Nine times out of ten, it will rain tomorrow.

Written forms

十中八九
- じっちゅうはっく
  Standard kanji form; the most common reading is じっちゅうはっく.
- じゅっちゅうはっく
  Alternate reading; also widely used.
- じゅうちゅうはっく
  Less common reading; may be encountered but じっちゅうはっく or じゅっちゅうはっく are preferred.
じゅうちゅうはっく
じゅっちゅうはっく

Kanji

十ten
中in, inside, middle
八eight, eight radical (no. 12)
九nine

Similar words

おそらく
おそらく is a more common and neutral adverb for 'probably', while 十中八九 emphasizes a very high probability, closer to 'almost certainly'.
九く分ぶ九く厘りん
九分九厘 also means 'almost certainly' but is slightly more emphatic (99%). 十中八九 is a bit less absolute (80-90%).

Etymology

A yojijukugo composed of 十 (ten), 中 (among), 八 (eight), and 九 (nine), literally meaning 'eight or nine out of ten'. The reading じっちゅうはっく follows standard on'yomi with a geminate consonant shift.