当あたり障さわり

あ

た

り

さ

わ

り

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

obstacle; hindrance; offense

Almost always used in negative expressions like 当たり障りがない or 当たり障りのない, meaning 'harmless', 'inoffensive', or 'uncontroversial'. It refers to something that does not cause trouble or hurt feelings.

彼かれはいつも当あたり障さわりのないことしか言いわない。
He always says only harmless, inoffensive things.

当あ

たり

障さわ

り

の

ない

話わ

題だい

を

選えら

ん

で

会かい

話わ

を

続つづ

け

た

。

I kept the conversation going by choosing safe, uncontroversial topics.

Written forms

当あたり障さわりUsage43%
Standard kanji spelling.
あたりさわりUsage32%
Kana spelling, common when avoiding kanji or for clarity.
当あたりさわりUsage13%
search-only kanji form
当あたり障さわりUsage8%
Variant with 当り instead of 当たり.
当あたりさわりUsage5%
search-only kanji form

Kanji

当hit, right, appropriate
障hinder, hurt, harm

Similar words

差さし障さわり
差し障り also means 'hindrance' or 'obstacle', but is used more broadly and can appear in affirmative contexts. 当たり障り is almost exclusively used in negative phrases.

Etymology

Compound of 当たり (from 当たる, 'to hit, touch') and 障り (from 障る, 'to hinder, harm'). The literal sense is 'hitting and hindering', but it is now used idiomatically in negative constructions.