ずさん

ず

さ

ん

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

na-adjective, noun

careless; sloppy; faulty

usually written using kana alone

Describes work, management, or planning that is done without proper care, full of mistakes or oversights. Often used critically.

彼かれのずさんな管かん理りが問もん題だいを引ひき起おこした。
His careless management caused the problem.

ずさんな会かい計けい処しょ理りが発はっ覚かくした。

Sloppy accounting practices were uncovered.

2

noun

unreliable sourcing; error-ridden writing

Specifically refers to a piece of writing that uses unreliable sources or is full of errors. A more literary, less common sense.

その論ろん文ぶんは杜ず撰さんで、引いん用ようが不ふ正せい確かくだった。
That paper was sloppy, with inaccurate citations.

Written forms

ずさんUsage53%
Standard kana spelling. It is usually written in kana.
杜撰Usage37%
- ずさん
  Kanji form is uncommon; the word is usually written in kana. The reading ずざん is obsolete.
- ずざん
  out-dated reading
ズサンUsage9%
ずざんUsage1%
out-dated reading

Kanji

杜woods, grove
撰composing, editing, compiling

Similar words

いい加か減げん
いい加減 implies irresponsibility or lack of thoroughness, while ずさん focuses on the resulting poor quality and errors.
粗そ雑ざつ
粗雑 means crude or rough in workmanship, whereas ずさん emphasizes carelessness leading to mistakes.

Etymology

Originally from Chinese, where 杜撰 referred to a work by Du Mo (杜黙) that was full of errors. In Japanese, it came to mean careless or sloppy work, especially in writing. The kanji 杜 (forest) and 撰 (select/compile) are used phonetically.