拙せっ者しゃ

せ

っ

しゃ

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

humble (kenjougo)archaicmale term, language, or name

Archaic humble first-person pronoun used mainly by samurai in historical or period settings. Not used in modern Japanese outside of fiction or reenactment.

「拙せっ者しゃは侍さむらいでござる」と、時じ代だい劇げきの登とう場じょう人じん物ぶつが言いった。
"I am a samurai," said the character in the period drama.

See all 4 example sentences ›

Kanji

拙bungling, clumsy, unskillful
者someone, person

Related words

臣おみ
拙者 is another archaic humble first-person pronoun, used especially by samurai, similar in register to 臣 (しん) but more common in period fiction.
麻ま呂ろ
拙者 is the archaic first-person pronoun associated with samurai in historical dramas, while 麿 belongs to the earlier Heian court and carries a courtier rather than warrior image.

Politeness

不ふ肖しょうplain
拙者 is an archaic samurai-era humble pronoun for 'I', while 不肖 is a still-used modern humble pronoun found in formal speeches and letters.

Written forms

拙せっ者しゃUsage99%
Archaic humble first-person pronoun, primarily used by samurai in historical contexts.
せっしゃUsage1%

Etymology

From 拙 (humble, clumsy) + 者 (person), literally 'clumsy person', used as a humble self-reference. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it became associated with samurai speech in the Edo period.