桁けた違ちがい

け

た

ち

が

い

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

na-adjective, noun

orders of magnitude different; in a different league; incomparable

Describes a difference so large it is like being off by a digit; used for skills, amounts, quality, etc. that are on a completely different level.

彼かれの料りょう理りの腕うで前まえは素人しろうととは桁けた違ちがいだ。
His cooking skills are in a completely different league from an amateur's.

この二ふたつの会かい社しゃの売うり上あげ高だかは桁けた違ちがいだ。

The sales figures of these two companies are orders of magnitude apart.

Written forms

桁けた違ちがいUsage67%
Standard kanji spelling.
ケタ違ちがいUsage21%
Katakana spelling used for emphasis or in informal writing.
けた違ちがいUsage11%
search-only kanji form
Search-only kana-kanji mixed form; not a common practical spelling.
けたちがいUsage1%

Kanji

桁beam, girder, spar
違difference, differ

Similar words

段だん違ちがい
段違い also means 'markedly different' but often implies a clear difference in rank or level, while 桁違い emphasizes a huge numerical or qualitative gap, like being off by a digit.
雲うん泥でいの差さ
雲泥の差 is a more literary expression for a vast difference, like 'as different as clouds and mud', whereas 桁違い is more casual and often used in everyday comparisons.

Etymology

Compound of 桁 (keta, 'digit, column') and 違い (chigai, 'difference'). Literally 'difference in digits', referring to a difference so large that the number of digits changes.