ぶち

JLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

usually written using kana alone

Emphatic prefix attached to verbs, adding a sense of force, violence, or intensity. Similar to ぶっ, but ぶち is used before certain sounds. Colloquial and expressive.

Kanji

打strike, hit, knock

Related words

ぶっ
ぶち and 打っ(ぶっ) are both emphatic verb prefixes meaning 'forcefully/violently', but ぶち attaches before certain consonants like こ・の・は while ぶっ attaches before others like と・つ・か.

Don't confuse with

突つきN1
打ち is a swinging strike or hit, while 突き is a straight forward thrust, so the two are easy to mix up when describing martial-arts techniques.

Word family

ぶちかまし
striking the face (sumo)
ぶちのめす
beat up; knock down; beat to a pulp · devastate; crush; overwhelm; defeat resoundingly
ぶちかます
ram head-first in the initial charge (sumo) · punch hard; hit hard
打ぶち放はなす
fire; shoot

Etymology

Derived from the verb 打つ (うつ, 'to hit'), with a sound change to ぶち. The exact historical development is uncertain, but it functions as an intensifying prefix in modern colloquial Japanese.