出くわす

• 読み: でくわす
• ローマ字: dekuwasu
• 漢字の分解: 出 (de/shutsu) — emerge, come out
• 発音: /de.kɯ.wa.sɯ/

意味

To run into; to come across unexpectedly; to encounter by chance.

A Group 1 (godan) verb written with 出 (de — to come out) + くわす (kuwasu — a dialectal form meaning to come upon, related to 食わす). 出くわす is consistently used for chance encounters — with people, situations, or events — that were not anticipated. It is more colloquial and informal than the literary 遭遇する (sōgū suru) and is the natural choice in spoken and written narrative Japanese.

例文

1. 帰り道で偶然、十年ぶりに小学校の恩師に出くわした。
2. 山道を歩いていたら、突然大きな熊に出くわして肝を冷やした。
3. 取材中に予想外の事件に出くわし、記者は急いで録音を始めた。

使い方ガイド

場面: daily life, narrative, travel, journalism

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Compound of 出る (deru — to come out) + くわす (kuwasu — a classical auxiliary verb meaning to meet, encounter). The construction suggests 'coming out and meeting' something unexpectedly.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal