恐らく

恐らく

Japanese

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

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): [o̞so̞ɾa̠kɯ̟ᵝ]

Adverb

恐らく (hiragana おそらく, rōmaji osoraku)

1. probably, in all likelihood

Usage notes

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

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

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN