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). 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

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

Adverb

恐(おそ)らく • (osoraku) 

1. 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)