全然

ぜんぜん

(not) at all

Mnemonic

Burn the lot, king, roof, dog and all, and see what survives it. Zen ぜん, and then zen ぜん again, and after the second one there is nothing whatsoever: ぜんぜん.

Worth knowing

Usually paired with a negative, though colloquially it also turns up with positives.

Built from

全

whole, entire

𠆢 roof + 王 king

然

so, thus

月 flesh + 犬 dog + 灬 fire

Words sharing these kanji

全く entirely, truly 全て all, entirely 全部 all, everything 完全 perfect, complete 全員 all members, (the) entire staff 全身 the whole body 全力 with all of one's strength, at full capacity 安全 safety, security 全体 whole, total 当然 natural, as a matter of course 突然 abruptly, suddenly 自然 nature

This is one of 1,500 words in Emaki, a free spaced repetition trainer with a written mnemonic on every card.

Study 全然 in Emaki

Free, no account needed. Your progress stays in your browser.

Emaki is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Kaishi 1.5k or its authors. The word, reading and meaning come from the Kaishi 1.5k deck, used with their permission. The mnemonic, the note and the kanji breakdown are original work, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.