かっぱらう

か

っ

ぱ

ら

う

かっ払う · godan verb (-u)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	かっ払ぱらう	かっ払ぱらわない
Polite	かっ払ぱらいます	かっ払ぱらいません
Past polite	かっ払ぱらいました	かっ払ぱらいませんでした
Past	かっ払ぱらった	かっ払ぱらわなかった
Te-form	かっ払ぱらって	かっ払ぱらわないで
Desire	かっ払ぱらいたい	かっ払ぱらいたくない
Potential	かっ払ぱらえる	かっ払ぱらえない
Passive	かっ払ぱらわれる	かっ払ぱらわれない
Causative	かっ払ぱらわせる	かっ払ぱらわせない
Causative passive	かっ払ぱらわせられるalso かっ払ぱらわされる	かっ払ぱらわせられないalso かっ払ぱらわされない
Volitional	かっ払ぱらおう
Polite volitional	かっ払ぱらいましょう
Imperative	かっ払ぱらえ	かっ払ぱらうな
Conditional	かっ払ぱらえば	かっ払ぱらわなければ
Tara conditional	かっ払ぱらったら	かっ払ぱらわなかったら

Meanings

godan verb (-u), transitive verb

swipe; filch; snatch; walk off with

usually written using kana alone

Colloquial and somewhat rough; implies a quick, sneaky theft, often of something unattended. Used for petty stealing.

誰だれかが店みせ先さきから商しょう品ひんをかっ払ぱらったらしい。
It seems someone swiped goods from the storefront.
置おき引びきに財さい布ふをかっ払ぱらわれた。
I had my wallet snatched by a sneak thief.

See all 3 example sentences ›

Kanji

掻scratch, rake, comb
払pay, clear out, prune
搔to scratch

Related words

盗ぬすむ
General verb for 'to steal'; neutral register. かっ払う is more colloquial and emphasizes a quick, sneaky act.
くすねる
Also means 'to pilfer' or 'to swipe', but often implies a smaller, sneakier theft, sometimes by someone you know. かっ払う can be more brazen.

Word family

かっぱらい
pilfering; snatching; swiping · pilferer; petty thief; bag snatcher

Written forms

かっ払ぱらうUsage3%
search-only kanji form
Common kana-kanji mixed spelling; usually written in kana.
かっぱらうUsage89%
Kana-only spelling; the word is usually written using kana alone.
搔かっ払ぱらうUsage8%
search-only kanji form
掻かっ払ぱらう
Full kanji spelling; less common but still encountered.
掻かっ払ぱらう
Variant without the small っ; rare.

Etymology

A contracted colloquial form of 掻き払う, from 掻き and 払う. The medial syllable was replaced by a geminate consonant, producing かっぱらう and the sense “snatch or steal.”