塵ちり

ち

り

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

noun

dust

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.

noun

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.

noun

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.

noun

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.

noun

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.

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
塵ちり浄じょう水ずい
ceremonial clapping and rubbing of palms

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.