思いの外

Japanese

Kanji in this term
おも
Grade: 2
ほか
Grade: 2
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
思いのほか

Etymology

思い +‎ +‎ , literally "outside one's thought"

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) もいのほか [òmóí nó hóká] (Heiban – [0])[1]
  • (Tokyo) もいのほか [òmóíꜜ nò hòkà] (Nakadaka – [3])[1]
  • IPA(key): [o̞mo̞i no̞ ho̞ka̠]

Adverb

(おも)いの(ほか) • (omoi no hoka

  1. unexpected, surprisingly
    (おも)いの(ほか)よくできた
    Omoi no hoka yoku dekita.
    You surprisingly did well!

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN