ひとしきり

ひ

と

し

き

り

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

adverb, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

for a while; for some time

usually written using kana alone

Describes an action or state continuing for a noticeable but not extremely long period. Often used with verbs like 泣く, 話す, 降る, etc.

彼かの女じょはひとしきり泣ないた後あと、落おち着ついた。
She cried for a while and then calmed down.
雨あめがひとしきり降ふって、すぐに止やんだ。
It rained for a while and soon stopped.

See all 6 example sentences ›

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
頻repeatedly, recur

Related words

しばらく
しばらく is more common and can be used for both 'a little while' and 'for a long time' (with negative), while ひとしきり emphasizes a continuous action over a moderate span.
一いち時じ
一時 means 'temporarily' or 'for a time', often implying a change back, whereas ひとしきり focuses on the duration of an ongoing action.

Built from

一ひと+しきり

Written forms

ひとしきりUsage94%
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 一頻り and 一しきり are rare and may not be recognized by all readers.
一ひとしきりUsage5%
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; also rare.
一ひと頻しきりUsage1%
Rare kanji spelling; the character 頻 is not commonly used for this word.

Etymology

Compound of 一 (hito, 'one') and 頻り (shikiri, 'frequently/repeatedly'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it likely originated from the idea of a single continuous spell of an action.