指ゆび切きり

ゆ

び

き

り

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

指切りする · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	指ゆび切きりする	指ゆび切きりしない
Polite	指ゆび切きりします	指ゆび切きりしません
Past polite	指ゆび切きりしました	指ゆび切きりしませんでした
Past	指ゆび切きりした	指ゆび切きりしなかった
Te-form	指ゆび切きりして	指ゆび切きりしないで
Desire	指ゆび切きりしたい	指ゆび切きりしたくない
Potential	指ゆび切きりできる	指ゆび切きりできない
Passive	指ゆび切きりされる	指ゆび切きりされない
Causative	指ゆび切きりさせる	指ゆび切きりさせない
Causative passive	指ゆび切きりさせられる	指ゆび切きりさせられない
Volitional	指ゆび切きりしよう
Polite volitional	指ゆび切きりしましょう
Imperative	指ゆび切きりしろ	指ゆび切きりするな
Conditional	指ゆび切きりすれば	指ゆび切きりしなければ
Tara conditional	指ゆび切きりしたら	指ゆび切きりしなかったら

Meanings

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb

pinky swear; pinky promise

A promise ritual where two people link their little fingers; often accompanied by a short song. Used as both a noun and a suru-verb.

子こ供どもの頃ころ、友とも達だちと指ゆび切きりをした。
When I was a child, I made a pinky swear with my friend.
「指ゆび切きりげんまん、嘘うそついたら針はり千せん本ぼん飲のます」と歌うたいながら指ゆび切きりする。
We do the pinky swear while singing, 'Pinky swear, if you lie, I'll make you swallow a thousand needles.'

See all 13 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉と指ゆび切きりするto pinky-swear with someone
友とも達だちと指ゆび切きりして、秘ひ密みつを守まもる約やく束そくをした。
I pinky-swore with my friend to keep the secret.
〈事こと〉を指ゆび切きりで約やく束そくするto seal a promise about something with a pinky swear
また会あうことを指ゆび切きりで約やく束そくした。
We sealed our promise to meet again with a pinky swear.

Expressions

指ゆび切きりげんまん、嘘うそついたら針はり千せん本ぼん飲のますpinky swear rhyme; cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye

Kanji

指finger, point to, indicate
切cut, cutoff, be sharp

Related words

約やく束そくN5
約束 is the general word for a promise, while 指切り refers specifically to the pinky-linking ritual used to seal a promise, often between children.

Counted with

回かいN4
If counted as an occurrence of making a promise, 回 can be used, but this noun is usually not naturally counted as a thing.

Word family

指ゆび切きりげんまん
pinky swear; pinky promise

Built from

指ゆび+切きる

Written forms

指ゆび切きりUsage95%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
ゆびきりUsage5%
Kana spelling; often used in children's contexts or when the kanji are considered difficult.
指ゆびきり
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; also seen, but less common than 指切り.

Etymology

指切り originally referred to pledges reportedly sealed by cutting off a finger, especially in early-modern love oaths; linking little fingers later became the familiar children’s promise ritual.