恐らく

Japanese

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

Etymology

Abbreviation of 恐(おそ)らくは (osoraku wa), itself a contraction of obsolete 恐(おそ)るらくは (osoruraku wa), composed of 恐(おそ)る (osoru, “to fear”, obsolete earlier form of modern 恐(おそ)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.

/osoruru aku wa/ → /osoruraku wa/ → /osoraku wa/ → /osoraku/

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) おそらく [òsóꜜràkù] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]
IPA^(key): [o̞so̞ɾa̠kɯ̟]

Adverb

恐(おそ)らく • (osoraku)

probably, in all likelihood

Usage notes

Usually written in hiragana.
The term osoraku expresses a higher degree of certainty than tabun.
Often used when predicting a negative outcome.

Synonyms

十(じゅっ)中(ちゅう)八(はっ)九(く) (jutchū hakku): literally “eight or nine times out of ten”: in all likelihood
多(た)分(ぶん) (tabun): maybe, perhaps, probably
きっと (kitto)

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]