おまわりさん

お

ま

わ

り

さ

ん

Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

police officer

familiar languageusually written using kana alone

Familiar, friendly term for a police officer, especially a patrol officer. Often used by children or in casual conversation.

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉〉がお巡まわりさんに道みちを聞きくto ask a police officer for directions
駅えき前まえでお巡まわりさんに道みちを聞きいた。
I asked a police officer for directions in front of the station.
お巡まわりさんに捕つかまるto get caught/stopped by a police officer
自じ転てん車しゃのライトをつけていなくてお巡まわりさんに捕つかまった。
I got stopped by a police officer for riding my bike without a light on.
お巡まわりさんが〈場所ばしょ〉〉を巡回じゅんかいするa police officer patrols a place
お巡まわりさんが夜よるの公こう園えんを巡じゅん回かいしている。
A police officer is patrolling the park at night.

Kanji

巡patrol, go around, circumference

Related words

巡じゅん査さN2
巡査 is the official rank name for a patrol officer used in bureaucratic or legal contexts, while お巡りさん is the same person referred to affectionately in everyday speech.
警けい察さつ官かんN5
警察官 is the neutral/official term, whereas お巡りさん is a friendly, colloquial way to refer to a patrolling police officer.
警けい察さつN4
お巡りさん is a friendly, colloquial way to refer to a police officer, whereas 警察 is neutral and can also mean the whole police force.
警けい官かんN5
お巡りさん is a friendly, colloquial way to refer to a police officer, often used by children, whereas 警官 is neutral and used in general contexts.
ポリス
お巡りさん is a warm, everyday way to refer to a police officer, while ポリス has a more foreign, catchy katakana feel.

Politeness

警けい察さつ官かんpolite 丁寧語N5
お巡りさん is the casual, friendly term children and everyday speakers use for a police officer, while 警察官 is the neutral, official term used in formal or written contexts.

Counted with

人にん
counter for people

Etymology

Derived from 巡る (めぐる, 'to patrol') with the honorific prefix お and the suffix さん, literally 'honorable patrol person'. The reading まわり is a nominalized form of 回る (まわる, 'to go around').