thoroughly; completely; utterly
Emphasizes that an action is done to the fullest extent, often with a negative or exhaustive nuance. Used adverbially with verbs.
After hesitating thoroughly, he ended up deciding not to go.
散々遊んだ後は、ぐっすり眠った。
After playing to my heart's content, I slept soundly.
severely; harshly; terribly; miserably
Describes a harsh or miserable experience, often with verbs like 怒られる, 言われる, 失敗する, or 目にあう. Carries a strong negative emotional tone.
遅刻して、上司に散々怒られた。
I was late and got severely scolded by my boss.
試験に散々失敗して、落ち込んでいる。
I failed the exam miserably and am feeling down.
scattered; disconnected; dispersed; smashed into tiny pieces
Archaic adjectival use describing things broken into pieces or scattered. Not used in modern Japanese outside of classical contexts.
古文では「散々たる光景」のように用いられた。
In classical texts, it was used like 'a scattered scene'.
After agonizing over it endlessly, he decided to quit his job.
My wallet was stolen during the trip, and I had a miserable time.
I went through a lot of hardship to make this plan a reality.
I was harshly scolded by my teacher for being late.
He has caused the people around him a lot of trouble.