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Definition 2024

恐らく

Japanese

Kanji in this term
恐
おそ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Adverb

恐らく ‎(hiragana おそらく, romaji osoraku)

probably, in all likelihood

Synonyms

十中八九 (じゅっちゅうはっく) ‎(jutchū hakku): literally “eight or nine times out of ten”: in all likelihood
多分 (たぶん) ‎(tabun): maybe, perhaps, probably

Usage notes

The term osoraku expresses a higher degree of certainty than tabun.

References

↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9

Etymology

Abbreviation of 恐らくは ‎(osoraku wa), itself a contraction of obsolete 恐るらくは ‎(osoruraku wa), composed of 恐る ‎(osoru, “to fear”, obsolete earlier form of modern 恐れる osoreru) + らく ‎(-raku, “state, act, or fact of doing”, nominalizing suffix) + は ‎(wa, topic particle).^[1]^[2] Compare English use of the term afraid, as in the phrases “I'm afraid so”, or “I'm afraid that ...”, to express a sense of probably.

Pronunciation

Kun'yomi
(Tokyo) おそらく [òsóꜜràkù] (Nakadaka - [2])^[2]
IPA^(key): [o̞so̞ɾ̠a̠kɯᵝ]