余り

Japanese

Kanji in this term
余
あま
Grade: 5
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
餘り (kyūjitai)

Alternative forms

  • (adverb):

Etymology

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 余る (amaru, “to be left over, to be in excess”).[1][2] Appears in the Kojiki of 712 CE.[1]

Also encountered with geminate reading あんまり (anmari) as an emphatic form for the adjective and adverb uses. This form appears in the 1400s.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun, adjective:

  • (Tokyo) あまり [àmáríꜜ] (Odaka – [3])[2]
  • IPA(key): [a̠ma̠ɾʲi]

Emphatic adjective:

  • (Tokyo) あんまり [àńmáríꜜ] (Odaka – [4])[2]
  • IPA(key): [ã̠mːa̠ɾʲi]

Adverb:

  • (Tokyo) あまり [àmárí] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA(key): [a̠ma̠ɾʲi]

Emphatic adverb:

  • (Tokyo) あんまり [àńmárí] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA(key): [ã̠mːa̠ɾʲi]

Adjective

余(あま)り or 余(あんま)り • (amari or anmari) -na (adnominal 余(あま)りな (amari na), adverbial 余(あま)りに (amari ni))

  1. excessive, extreme
  2. terrible, awful
    • 2025 August 15 (last accessed), 小池晃 [Akira Koike], quotee, “第217回国会　参議院　本会議　第3号　令和7年1月29日 [217th Diet House of Councilors Plenary Session No. 3 January 29, 2025]”, in 国会会議録検索システム [Diet Proceedings Search System]‎[1], 国立国会図書館 [National Diet Library]:
      高額療養費の上限引上げは、がんや心臓病など深刻な病に苦しむ人々への余りに冷たい仕打ちです。
      Kōgaku ryōyō-hi no jōgen hikiage wa, gan ya shinzō-byō nado shinkoku na yamai ni kurushimu hitobito e no amari ni tsumetai shiuchi desu.
      Raising the cap on high-cost medical expenses is awfully cruel treatment of people suffering from serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.

Usage notes

This is used both as a -na adjective with the な (na) attributive particle, and as an attributive noun followed by の (no).

Inflection

Inflection of 余り
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) 余りだろ あまりだろ amari daro
Continuative (連用形) 余りで あまりで amari de
Terminal (終止形) 余りだ あまりだ amari da
Attributive (連体形) 余りな あまりな amari na
Hypothetical (仮定形) 余りなら あまりなら amari nara
Imperative (命令形) 余りであれ あまりであれ amari de are
Key constructions
Informal negative 余りではない
余りじゃない 		あまりではない
あまりじゃない 		amari de wa nai
amari ja nai
Informal past 余りだった あまりだった amari datta
Informal negative past 余りではなかった
余りじゃなかった 		あまりではなかった
あまりじゃなかった 		amari de wa nakatta
amari ja nakatta
Formal 余りです あまりです amari desu
Formal negative 余りではありません
余りじゃありません 		あまりではありません
あまりじゃありません 		amari de wa arimasen
amari ja arimasen
Formal past 余りでした あまりでした amari deshita
Formal negative past 余りではありませんでした
余りじゃありませんでした 		あまりではありませんでした
あまりじゃありませんでした 		amari de wa arimasen deshita
amari ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive 余りで あまりで amari de
Conditional 余りなら（ば） あまりなら（ば） amari nara (ba)
Provisional 余りだったら あまりだったら amari dattara
Volitional 余りだろう あまりだろう amari darō
Adverbial 余りに あまりに amari ni
Degree 余りさ あまりさ amarisa

Adverb

余(あま)り or 余(あんま)り • (amari or anmari) 

  1. (chiefly in the negative) often, much, excessively
    Antonym: 時々 (tokidoki, “sometimes, at times, occasionally”)
    西(にし)村(むら)さんは朝(あさ)ご飯(はん)をあまり食(た)べません。
    Nishimura-san wa asagohan o amari tabemasen.
    Nishimura does not eat breakfast very often.
    見(み)た目(め)はあんまりですが、 […]
    Mitame wa anmari desu ga, […]
    The appearance is not very [impressive], but […]
    • 2009, けいおん！
      「あんまりうまくないですね！」
      “Anmari umakunai desu ne!”
      "You guys are not very good, are you?"

Usage notes

This term is often spelled in kana.

See also

Noun

余(あま)り • (amari) 

  1. remainder
    Synonym: 余分 (yobun)
  2. (somewhat literary) an abundance of something, an excess of something
    嬉(うれ)しさの余(あま)りに泣(な)いてしまう
    ureshisa no amari ni naite shimau
    to cry from an excess of happiness
    好(す)きすぎるあまり
    sukisugiru amari
    liking [something] so, so much

See also

Suffix

余(あま)り • (-amari) 

  1. used after a numeral to express “a little more than”
    二(に)十(じゅう)余(あま)りの建(たて)物(もの)
    nijū amari no tatemono
    twenty-odd buildings, twenty-some buildings
  2. (archaic) Used to connect numerals: and
    はづきとおかあまりいつか (a native reading of 八月十五日, which is today read as はちがつじゅうごにち (hachigatsu jūgonichi) for “August 15th”)
    hazuki tōka amari itsuka
    the 15th day of the 8th month [lit. eighth-month ten-days and five-days]

Usage notes

  • The word is used to connect native Japanese numerals (ひとつ, ふたつ etc.) into numbers, e.g. 'ten' and 'five' into 'fifteen' rather than 'ten, five'. It is not used when counting in Chinese numerals (いち, に etc.).

Verb

余(あま)り • (amari) 

  1. stem or continuative form of 余る (amaru) [godan]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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