おつかれ

• 読み: おつかれ
• ローマ字: otsukare
• 発音: /o.tsɯ.ka.ɾe/

意味

The go-to peer-level farewell meaning 'good work' or 'see ya' — shorter and more casual than お疲れ様です.

おつかれ is the workhorse farewell of Japanese peer interaction. While the kanji form お疲れ emphasises the word's literal meaning of tiredness, the hiragana おつかれ feels even more casual and is preferred in texting. It is the default way to say goodbye to classmates, coworkers of equal rank, and friends after any shared activity. In online culture, it is often shortened further to おつ.

例文

1. おつかれ〜、先に帰るね。
2. バイトおつかれ、ラーメン食べに行こう。
3. おつかれ！今日めっちゃ忙しかったね。

使い方ガイド

場面: farewell to peers, after work, after class, texting

トーン: friendly, casual, appreciative

正しい言い方

• おつかれ、また明日ね (Good work, see you tomorrow)
• おつかれ〜、今日もお疲れ！ (See ya~ great job today!)

避ける言い方

• 上司に「おつかれ」だけで帰るのは失礼 — 「お疲れ様です、お先に失礼します」と言う (Leaving with just おつかれ to your boss is rude — say お疲れ様です、お先に失礼します)

よくある間違い

• Using おつかれ as a farewell to superiors without the full お疲れ様です
• Not realising おつかれ functions as both a greeting and a farewell — context determines which

起源と歴史

Casual hiragana form of お疲れ, from お疲れ様 (otsukaresama, 'you must be tired/good work'). The hiragana spelling signals maximum casualness. Has been the standard peer farewell in Japanese workplaces and schools for decades.

文化的背景

時代: Long-standing workplace/school culture

世代: All ages (peer contexts)

社会的背景: Universal informal

地域メモ: Used nationwide. The most natural peer-level farewell in Japanese. Often shortened to おつ in very casual texting.