近頃 (ちかごろ, chikagoro) Japanese meaning: lately

近頃 (ちかごろ, chikagoro) Japanese meaning: lately | Kotomora

Kanji

近near, early, akin
頃time, about, toward

Related words· 8

最さい近きんN5sense 1
最近 is the neutral, standard word for 'recently', while 近頃 carries a slightly more casual or subjective feel.
この頃ごろN4sense 1
このごろ and 近頃 are near-identical in meaning and casualness, though 近頃 is written with kanji and feels a touch more formal in writing.
近きん来らい sense 1
近来 is a stiff, literary word for 'recently' used in formal writing, whereas 近頃 is common in everyday speech.
今いま時どきN1
近頃 and 今時 both mean 'these days' in casual speech, but 今時 more often carries a critical or contrastive tone about how things have changed.

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昨さっ今こん
近頃 is a conversational way to say 'lately'; 昨今 is more formal and typically appears in writing about ongoing social or economic trends.
月つき頃ごろ
近頃 is a common word for 'recently' without any month-specific nuance, whereas 月頃 specifically points to the last several months.
近きん年ねん
近頃 is a casual, spoken way to say 'these days', whereas 近年 sounds more written and suits describing longer-term trends.
先さき頃ごろN1
近頃 describes a vaguer, ongoing recent period ('these days'), while 先頃 points to a single specific past event.

Opposites

昔むかしN4sense 1
近頃 points to the recent present while 昔 points to the distant past, so the two are often contrasted (近頃と昔).

Don't confuse with

近きん所じょN4sense 1
近頃 (recently) and 近所 (neighborhood) share the kanji 近 but refer to time and place respectively, so learners sometimes confuse them.

Written forms

近ちか頃ごろUsage59%
Standard kanji spelling; high priority.
近ちかごろUsage34%
Common mixed kana-kanji spelling, often used to soften the visual weight.
ちかごろUsage7%

Etymology

Compound of 近 (chika, 'near') and 頃 (koro, 'time'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the combination naturally yields 'near time' → 'lately'.

近ちか頃ごろ

Meanings

Usage patterns