Explore Words Kanji Grammar Guides

Copyright © 2026 Kotomora. All Rights Reserved.

Get the Kotomora apps for iOS and Android.

Explore Words Kanji Grammar Guides About Support Privacy

Copyright © 2026 Kotomora. All Rights Reserved.

辛うじて (かろうじて) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

辛かろうじて

か

ろ

う

じ

て

Common word›JLPTN1›Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

barely; narrowly; only just

usually written using kana alone

Expresses that something was achieved or avoided by a very small margin, often with difficulty.

終しゅう電でんに辛かろうじて間まに合あった。

I barely caught the last train.

彼かれは辛かろうじて試し験けんに合ごう格かくした。

He narrowly passed the exam.

Usage patterns

辛かろうじて〈動詞どうし〉〉to barely manage to do something
試し験けんに辛かろうじて合ごう格かくした。
I barely managed to pass the exam.
辛かろうじて間まに合あうto just barely make it in time
終しゅう電でんに辛かろうじて間まに合あった。
I just barely made the last train.
辛かろうじて助たすかるto narrowly survive
彼かれは事じ故こで辛かろうじて助たすかった。
He narrowly survived the accident.
辛かろうじて〈物もの〉〉が見みえるto be barely able to see something
霧きりの中なかで道みちが辛かろうじて見みえた。
In the fog, I could barely see the road.

Kanji

辛spicy, bitter, hot

Related words· 7

ぎりぎり
ぎりぎり is casual and often used for physical limits or deadlines, while 辛うじて is more formal and stresses the difficulty of the narrow margin.
やっとN4
やっと highlights relief at finally succeeding after effort or waiting, whereas 辛うじて emphasizes how close the outcome came to failing.
なんとかN3
なんとか suggests managing to do something through some effort or means, while 辛うじて focuses specifically on the narrowness of the margin.
どうにかN2
どうにか is a colloquial way of saying something was managed somehow, whereas 辛うじて is more literary and stresses the closeness of failure.

Show 3 more

細ほそ々ぼそ
細々 describes an ongoing weak, subsistence-level state (a business or life barely continuing), while かろうじて describes narrowly succeeding at a single action.
すれすれN2
辛うじて is an adverb meaning 'barely, with great effort', whereas すれすれ describes the state of being right at the edge of a limit or surface.
ぎりぎりN3
かろうじて stresses the effort or struggle needed to barely achieve something, while ぎりぎり simply describes closeness to a limit without implying difficulty.

Written forms

辛かろうじてUsage32%
Standard kanji spelling, though It is usually written in kana.
かろうじてUsage68%
Kana spelling is common and matches usual-kana usage.

Etymology

Derived from the adjective 辛い (からい, 'painful, difficult') in its adverbial form, with the meaning 'with difficulty'.