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うろつく (urotsuku) Japanese meaning: loiter | Kotomora
Common word› JLPT N1 › Freq. Frequency Top 50,000 Conjugation うろつく · godan verb (-ku)
Form Positive Negative Dictionary うろつく うろつかない Polite うろつきます うろつきません Past polite うろつきました うろつきませんでした Past うろついた うろつかなかった Te-form うろついて うろつかないで Desire うろつきたい うろつきたくない Potential うろつける うろつけない Passive うろつかれる うろつかれない Causative うろつかせる うろつかせない Causative passive うろつかせられる also うろつかされる うろつかせられない also うろつかされない Volitional うろつこう Polite volitional うろつきましょう Imperative うろつけ うろつくな Conditional うろつけば うろつかなければ Tara conditional うろついたら うろつかなかったら
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夜よ 中なか に 公こう 園えん を うろつく の は 危あぶ ない 。
It's dangerous to wander around the park in the middle of the night.
A suspicious man was loitering in front of the house.
Usage patterns 〈 場ば 所しょ 〉 をうろつく to loiter/hang around a place
He was loitering around town until late at night.
〈 場ば 所しょ 〉 の 周まわ りをうろつく to hang around near a place
A suspicious man was loitering around the house.
目もく 的てき もなくうろつく to wander around aimlessly, with no particular purpose
He wandered around town with no particular purpose.
Related words 彷徨う emphasizes wandering with no destination, often as if lost or in a daze, while 彷徨く (うろつく) focuses on loitering around a specific area, often with a suspicious or aimless nuance.
徘徊する is a more formal, clinical term often used for dementia patients wandering or police reports of suspicious wandering, while 彷徨く (うろつく) is the everyday word for hanging around a place.
ぶらつく is neutral or casual, describing a relaxed stroll with no suspicious overtone, whereas 彷徨く (うろつく) often implies loitering somewhere one shouldn't be, making others uneasy.
うろうろ is a mimetic adverb describing aimless wandering, while うろつく is the verb form that often adds a nuance of suspicious or shady loitering.
うろつく is a casual, often negatively-tinged word for loitering or hanging around suspiciously, whereas 歩き回る is neutral and simply describes moving around on foot.
Written forms うろつく Usage 97%
Usually written in kana; the kanji form 彷徨く is rare.
ウロつく Usage 3%
search-only kana form
Search-only katakana form; not a standard written spelling.
彷徨うろつ く
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; learners should use the kana spelling.
Etymology The origin is uncertain. The kanji 彷徨 is an ateji assignment based on the meaning of wandering, but the word itself is likely of native Japanese origin.
