空くう前ぜん

く

う

ぜ

ん

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

unprecedented; record-breaking

Describes something that has never happened before or is the highest/lowest on record. Often used in news headlines and formal statements.

今年ことしの夏なつは空くう前ぜんの猛もう暑しょだった。

This summer was an unprecedented heat wave.

その映えい画がは空くう前ぜんの大だいヒットを記き録ろくした。

The movie was a record-breaking blockbuster.

Usage patterns

空くう前ぜんの〈事こと〉unprecedented ~ (used before a noun)
この映えい画がは空くう前ぜんのヒットとなった。
This movie became an unprecedented hit.
空くう前ぜんの〈数かず〉a record-breaking number/amount
空くう前ぜんの売うり上あげを記き録ろくした。
It recorded unprecedented sales figures.

Kanji

空empty, sky, void
前in front, before

Related words

未み曾ぞ有う
未曾有 is a literary term typically used for disasters or extraordinary events, while 空前 is common in news and statistics for records.
前ぜん代だい未み聞もん
前代未聞 stresses that something is unheard of in history, often with surprise or scandal, whereas 空前 is more neutral and factual.
記き録ろく的てき
記録的 focuses on breaking a numerical record (e.g. weather, sales), while 空前 more broadly means something has never occurred before.
史し上じょうN1
空前 means 'unprecedented' and describes an event with no earlier example, while 史上 is a more neutral marker meaning 'in history' that is often combined with superlatives such as 史上最大.

Word family

空くう前ぜん絶ぜつ後ご
unprecedented and unrepeatable; first and last
史し上じょう空くう前ぜん
unprecedented in history; epoch-making

Etymology

Compound of 空 (empty, void) and 前 (before, previous), literally 'empty of precedent'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the meaning has been stable in modern Japanese.