遅ち刻こく

ち

こ

く

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

遅刻する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Meanings

lateness; tardiness; arriving late

Commonly used for being late to school, work, appointments, or meetings. Often used with する to mean 'to be late'.

〈場ば所しょ〉に遅ち刻こくするto be late arriving at a place
電でん車しゃが止とまって学がっ校こうに遅ち刻こくした。
The train stopped and I was late for school.
〈数すう〉分ふん遅ち刻こくするto be a certain number of minutes late
会かい議ぎに十じゅっ分ぷん遅ち刻こくしてしまった。
I ended up being ten minutes late to the meeting.
遅ち刻こくの理り由ゆうを説せつ明めいするto explain the reason for being late
先せん生せいに遅ち刻こくの理り由ゆうを説せつ明めいした。
I explained to the teacher the reason I was late.
遅ち刻こくして怒おこられるto get scolded for being late
また遅ち刻こくして先せん生せいに怒おこられた。
I was late again and got scolded by the teacher.

遅おくれるN4
遅れる is a general verb meaning 'to be late' or 'to fall behind' for anything, while 遅刻 specifically means arriving late to a scheduled event like school or work.
遅おくれN1
遅刻 specifically means arriving late to a scheduled event like school or work, whereas 遅れ is a broader noun for any kind of lag or delay.

遅ち延えん
遅延 refers to a delay in schedules or transportation (e.g. a train running late), while 遅刻 refers to a person arriving late to an appointment or duty.
早そう退たいN3
早退 means leaving early before the scheduled end time, whereas 遅刻 means arriving late at the start; the two are often mentioned together as opposite attendance problems.
寝ね坊ぼうN4
遅刻 means being late for something (the result), whereas 寝坊 means oversleeping (a possible cause of being late), so the two are related but not interchangeable.

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手て遅おくれN1
遅刻 means being late for an appointment or event (e.g. school, a meeting), whereas 手遅れ means a point has passed where action can still help, often in serious or medical contexts.
出で遅おくれる
遅刻する means being late for a specific scheduled time like school or a meeting, while 出遅れる means falling behind at the start of a competition or endeavor rather than missing a set time.
欠けっ席せきN4
欠席 means not attending at all, whereas 遅刻 means arriving late to something you do attend.

From 遅 (chi, 'late') + 刻 (koku, 'time'). The kanji combination directly conveys the meaning of being late for a set time.