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塵 (ちり, chiri) Japanese meaning: dust | Kotomora

塵ちり

ち

り

Common word›JLPTN1›Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

Fine particles of dirt or other matter that accumulate on surfaces or float in the air.

机つくえの上うえに塵ちりが積つもっている。

Dust has accumulated on the desk.

2

trash; garbage; dirt

Small, worthless debris or refuse; often used in contexts like cleaning or sweeping away unwanted matter.

掃そう除じ機きで部屋へやの塵ちりを吸すい取とった。
I vacuumed up the dust and dirt from the room.

3

negligible amount; tiny bit

Used in negative constructions like 塵ほども...ない to emphasize that there is not even the slightest amount of something.

彼かれには塵ちりほどの良りょう心しんもない。
He doesn't have a shred of conscience.

4

hustle and bustle of life; worldly cares

Buddhist-influenced metaphor for the distractions and impurities of secular life. Often appears in set phrases like 塵にまみれる.

俗ぞく世せの塵ちりにまみれて暮くらす。
I live covered in the dust of the mundane world.

5

ritual sumo gesture for a clean fight

abbreviationsumo›

Abbreviation of 塵手水 (ちりちょうず), the symbolic hand-cleansing motion performed by sumo wrestlers before a bout.

See also: 塵手水

力りき士しは土ど俵ひょうで塵ちりを切きる。
The sumo wrestler performs the ritual hand gesture in the ring.

Usage patterns

〈物もの〉の塵ちりを払はらうto dust something off; to brush away dust
本ほんの塵ちりを払はらった。
I dusted off the book.
塵ちりにまみれるto be covered in dust; to be immersed in worldly cares
彼かれは塵ちりにまみれた生せい活かつを送おくっている。
He leads a life steeped in worldly cares.
塵ちりを切きるto perform the sumo ritual hand-clapping gesture before a bout
力りき士しは塵ちりを切きってから対たい戦せんした。
The wrestler performed the ritual gesture before facing off.
塵ちりがたまるfor dust to accumulate somewhere
部屋へやに塵ちりがたまっている。
Dust has piled up in the room.
塵ちり一ひとつないnot a speck of dust; spotlessly clean
彼かれの部屋へやは塵ちり一ひとつない。
His room doesn't have a speck of dust.

Expressions

塵ちりの世よthis corrupt world; world of the living; fleeting life
塵ちりの尾おdust tail (of a comet)
塵ちりほど(not even) a little; (not even) a tiny bit
ちりつもmany a little makes a mickle; every little helps
お髭ひげの塵ちりを取とるflatter a superior; curry favor with a higher-up
御お髭ひげの塵ちりを払はらうflatter a superior; suck up to; curry favor

Kanji

塵dust, trash, garbage

Related words

ほこりN3sense 1
埃 typically refers to fine airborne dust or lint that gathers on surfaces, while 塵 covers that same dust but also extends to discarded rubbish and metaphorical uses like 'worldly cares'.
ごみN5sense 2
ごみ is the everyday, common word for garbage or trash, while 塵 is a more literary or formal term that in other senses also means 'a negligible amount' or 'worldly cares'.
俗ぞく世せ sense 4
俗世 directly names the secular, everyday world people live in, whereas 塵 evokes the same idea of worldly cares and distractions through the metaphor of accumulated dust.
微み塵じんN1
塵 is the ordinary word for dust or a speck, while 微塵 stresses extreme minuteness and is often used figuratively or in set expressions like 微塵切り.

Don't confuse with

塵手水ちりちょうず sense 5
塵手水 is the full name of the sumo purification gesture, while 塵 is the common abbreviated form used specifically in that sumo context.
ごみN5
塵 written and read ちり means fine dust or dirt, while the same kanji read ごみ means trash or garbage—context and reading distinguish them.
ちり
塵 (ちり) means dust or rubbish, a completely different word that happens to share the same reading and spelling as ちり the hot pot dish.

Word family

塵ちり塚づか
rubbish heap; garbage dump
チリダニ
house dust mite
塵手水ちりちょうず
ritual gestures before a sumo bout
ちりはらい
duster · dusting; removing dust
塵ちり浄

Written forms

塵ちりUsage11%
Standard kanji spelling. The reading ちり is the only common reading for this kanji in modern Japanese.
ちりUsage84%
チリUsage5%

Etymology

The kanji 塵 is a phono-semantic compound with 鹿 (deer) and 土 (earth), originally depicting dust raised by deer. The reading ちり is native Japanese, with uncertain deeper origin.

じょう

水ずい

ceremonial clapping and rubbing of palms