しょっちゅう

しょ

っ

ちゅ

う

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

Casual adverb for something that happens very often or almost constantly. Stronger than よく; closer to 'always' or 'all the time' in informal speech.

かれ

は

しょっちゅう

遅ち

刻こく

する

。

He's late all the time.

しょっちゅう電でん話わしてくる友とも達だちがいる。

I have a friend who calls me constantly.

しょっちゅう遅ち刻こくするto be late all the time
彼かれはしょっちゅう遅ち刻こくする。
He's late all the time.
しょっちゅう〈事こと〉が起おこるfor something (often a problem) to happen constantly
このパソコンはしょっちゅう故こ障しょうが起おこる。
This computer breaks down all the time.

よくN5
よく means 'often' in a neutral, moderate sense, while しょっちゅう is more casual and emphatic, suggesting near-constant frequency.
いつもN5
いつも states 'always' as a plain fact, whereas しょっちゅう carries a casual, often mildly complaining tone about how frequently something happens.
たびたびN3
たびたび is a slightly more formal or literary way to say 'often/repeatedly', while しょっちゅう is casual, spoken-style Japanese.
ひっきりなしにN1
しょっちゅう is a casual way to say 'all the time', usually about repeated habitual actions, whereas ひっきりなしに stresses an unbroken continuous flow.

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始し終じゅうN2
しょっちゅう is a casual, spoken way to say 'all the time' about repeated occurrences, whereas 始終 is more neutral and can also describe unbroken duration.
ちょこちょこ
しょっちゅう is a very colloquial way to say 'all the time,' while ちょこちょこ in the frequency sense suggests smaller, less continuous repeated occurrences.

たまにN4
たまに means 'occasionally', the opposite frequency from しょっちゅう's 'constantly, all the time'.
滅めっ多たにN3
めったに (usually with a negative verb) means 'rarely', directly opposite in frequency to しょっちゅう's 'very often'.

The origin is uncertain. It may be a sound-symbolic (mimetic) word emphasizing repetition, but the exact derivation is unclear.