落おちこぼれ

お

ち

こ

ぼ

れ

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

fallen scraps; leftovers; odds and ends

Literally things that have fallen or been left behind; used for physical scraps, remnants, or the small, leftover bits of something. Sense 2 (leftovers, remainder) is a natural extension of the literal meaning.

机つくえの下したにパンくずの落おちこぼれがあった。
There were fallen bread crumbs under the desk.
市いち場ばが閉しまった後あと、野や菜さいの落おちこぼれを拾ひろう人ひとがいる。
After the market closes, some people pick up leftover vegetables.

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

dropout; student who falls behind

colloquialsensitive

Colloquial and sensitive term for a student who cannot keep up academically or socially, or a person who drops out of a group or movement. Often used in educational contexts. Can also be used as a no-adjective (e.g., 落ちこぼれの生徒).

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉が落おちこぼれになるfor someone to become a dropout/left-behind student
勉べん強きょうについていけず、彼かれは落おちこぼれになってしまった。
Unable to keep up with his studies, he ended up becoming a dropout.
〈場ば所しょ〉で落おちこぼれが出でるfor dropouts/underachievers to emerge in (a class, school, etc.)
このクラスでは毎まい年ねん何なん人にんか落おちこぼれが出でる。
Every year a few students fall behind and become dropouts in this class.
落おちこぼれ扱あつかいするto treat someone as a dropout/failure
成せい績せきが悪わるいだけで落おちこぼれ扱あつかいするのはひどい。
It's cruel to treat someone as a dropout just because of bad grades.

Kanji

落fall, drop, come down
零zero, spill, overflow

Related words

ドロップアウト
ドロップアウト is a loanword used broadly for dropping out of society or any system, while 落ちこぼれ specifically implies falling behind within a group such as a class.
劣れっ等とう生せい
劣等生 is a neutral, formal term for a poorly-performing student, whereas 落ちこぼれ is colloquial and carries a stronger, more sensitive negative connotation.

Opposites

浮うきこぼれ
浮きこぼれ describes a gifted student who becomes disengaged from being ahead of the class, the mirror-image problem to 落ちこぼれ falling behind.
優ゆう等とう生せいN1
優等生 is a top-performing student, the direct opposite of a 落ちこぼれ who struggles to keep up academically.
エリートN1
落ちこぼれ is someone who fails to keep up (e.g. academically), contrasting with エリート as a top performer.

Don't confuse with

落おちぶれる
落ちぶれる means to fall into ruin or poverty in one's life circumstances, distinct from 落ちこぼれ which specifically refers to falling behind within a group like a school class.

Word family

落おちこぼれる
fall behind; drop out; be left behind · drop; fall; spill; scatter

Written forms

落おちこぼれUsage96%
Standard spelling; the kanji 落ち零れ is also seen but less common.
おちこぼれUsage4%
落おち零こぼれ
Alternate kanji form using 零; less frequent than 落ちこぼれ.

Etymology

Compound of the verb 落ちる (to fall) in its continuative form 落ち and こぼれ, the continuative form of こぼれる (to spill, to scatter). Literally 'fallen and scattered bits', later extended metaphorically to people who 'fall through the cracks'.