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あわや (awaya) Japanese meaning: nearly | Kotomora

あわや

あ

わ

や

JLPTN1›Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

nearly; almost; on the verge of

Used when something bad or dramatic almost happened but was narrowly avoided. Often followed by a phrase describing the averted outcome, such as ～ところだった.

あわや大だい事じ故こになるところだった。

Related words

危あやうくN1
危うく and あわや both describe a bad outcome that was narrowly avoided, but 危うく is more common in everyday speech while あわや has a slightly more dramatic, narrative tone.
すんでのところで
すんでのところで also means 'at the last moment' but is slightly more formal and puts emphasis on the critical instant of avoidance, whereas あわや emphasizes how close the bad event came to happening.
もう少すこしで
もう少しで is a neutral 'almost' usable for both good and bad near-events, while あわや is reserved for narrowly averted bad or dramatic events.

Written forms

It nearly turned into a major accident.

あわや衝しょう突とつしそうになったが、間かん一いっ髪ぱつで避さけた。

We almost collided, but avoided it by a hair's breadth.

Usage patterns

あわや〈事こと〉というところだったit was almost X (a bad outcome narrowly avoided)
あわや大だい事じ故こというところだった。
It was almost a major accident.
あわや〈事こと〉になるところだったit nearly turned into X
あわや衝しょう突とつになるところだったが、運うん転てん手しゅはとっさにハンドルを切きった。
It nearly turned into a collision, but the driver swerved just in time.
あわやのところで〈動どう詞し〉at the very last moment, narrowly (avoided doing something bad)
あわやのところで転てん落らくを免まぬがれた。
He narrowly avoided falling.

あわや

Usage96%

Kana-only adverb; no kanji form is used in modern Japanese.

アワヤUsage4%

Etymology

The origin is uncertain. It may be related to the interjection あわ (expressing surprise or alarm) combined with the particle や, but the exact derivation is unclear.