やりくり

や

り

く

り

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb

making do; getting by; managing

usually written using kana alone

Refers to managing with limited resources, time, or money; often implies creative budgeting or scheduling.

少すくないお小こ遣づかいでやりくりするのは大たい変へんだ。
It's tough to make do with a small allowance.

彼かの女じょは家か計けいのやりくりが上手じょうずだ。

She is good at managing the household budget.

Written forms

やりくりUsage84%
Kana spelling is standard; usually written in kana.
やり繰くりUsage7%
Kanji spelling with 繰り; less common but still seen.
ヤリクリUsage6%
遣やり繰くりUsage2%
Rare kanji spelling using 遣り; mostly search-only.

Kanji

繰winding, reel, spin
遣dispatch, despatch, send

Similar words

節せつ約やく
節約 focuses on saving or economizing, while やりくり emphasizes juggling resources to make ends meet.
工く面めん
工面 often implies raising or scraping together money, whereas やりくり is broader, covering time and general resource management.

Etymology

Compound of やり (continuative form of やる 'to do') and 繰り (continuative form of 繰る 'to manage, to spin'), literally 'doing and managing'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word has been used since the Edo period to mean making do with limited means.