まちまち

ま

ち

ま

ち

Common wordJLPTN1

Meanings

1

noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no', na-adjective, noun

various; diverse; different; divided; conflicting

usually written using kana alone

Describes a state where things are not uniform; opinions, sizes, results, etc. are varied or inconsistent. Often used with ～だ, ～の, or ～になる.

意い見けんがまちまちで、なかなか決きまらない。
Opinions are divided, so it's hard to reach a decision.

参さん加か者しゃのレベルはまちまちだった。

The participants' levels were varied.

Written forms

まちまちUsage90%
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 区々 and 区区 are rare.
区まち々まちUsage5%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; learners should use the kana spelling.
マチマチUsage5%
区まち区まち
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; learners should use the kana spelling.

Kanji

区ward, district

Similar words

様さま々ざま
様々 emphasizes a wide variety of kinds, while まちまち emphasizes inconsistency or lack of uniformity among individual items.
色いろ々いろ
色々 is a general word for 'various', while まちまち carries a nuance of being scattered or not matching.

Etymology

Derived from reduplication of まち (machi), an old word meaning 'difference' or 'discrepancy'. The kanji 区 (ward, district) is used for its meaning of division, but the word is now almost always written in kana.