Usage patterns 〈 事こと 〉 がことごとく 外はず れる for something (like a prediction) to turn out wrong every single time
Every single one of his predictions turned out wrong.
〈 事こと 〉 がことごとく 失しっ 敗ぱい する for every single attempt at something to fail
Every one of his plans ended in failure.
〈 事こと 〉 をことごとく 拒きょ 否ひ する to reject every single one of a set of proposals, requests, etc.
He rejected every single one of the proposals.
Kanji 悉 all, entirely, altogether 尽 exhaust, use up, run out of Related words すべて is the neutral, everyday word for 'all' or 'everything', while ことごとく is a more literary, emphatic adverb stressing that not a single exception occurs.
全部 is the common, neutral word for 'all' or 'everything', whereas ことごとく is a literary adverb emphasizing that absolutely every item, without exception, is affected.
残らず means 'without leaving anything out' and is used similarly to ことごとく , but ことごとく carries a more formal, literary tone typically found in written Japanese.
一切 is typically paired with negative verbs to mean 'not at all' or 'none whatsoever', while ことごとく is used affirmatively to mean 'every single one without exception'.
みんな is a casual word for 'everyone' or 'all' and is often used for people, while ことごとく is formal and emphatic and normally does not refer to people.
Written forms ことごとく Usage 80%
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 悉く and 尽く are rare and literary.
悉ことごと く Usage 16%
Rare kanji spelling; mainly found in older or formal writing.
尽ことごと く Usage 4%
Rare kanji spelling; mainly found in older or formal writing.
Etymology Derived from the classical Japanese adjective 異 (こと , 'different') reduplicated and combined with 如く (ごとく , 'like'), originally meaning 'in various ways' or 'each and every one'. The modern sense of 'all without exception' developed from this.
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