真っ只中

• 読み: まっただなか
• ローマ字: mattadanaka
• 漢字の分解: 真 (shin/ma) — true, genuine (intensifier prefix); 只 (tada) — just, merely; 中 (chū/naka) — middle, inside
• 発音: /mat.ta.da.na.ka/

意味

Right in the middle; in the very heart or thick of something. Emphasises being fully immersed at the centre of an intense situation.

A noun phrase combining the intensifying prefix 真っ (ma-, 'truly, completely') and 只中 (tadanaka, 'right in the middle'). Often used to convey that one is caught squarely within an ongoing crisis, season, or event — heightening the sense of immersion, pressure, or intensity. Appears in both spoken and written registers.

例文

1. 試験の真っ只中に地震が起きた。
2. 交渉の真っ只中で急に担当者が変わった。
3. 夏の真っ只中、外での作業は体に堪えた。

使い方ガイド

場面: everyday conversation, narrative, journalism

トーン: emphatic

起源と歴史

Formed from the intensifying prefix 真っ (ma-) and 只中 (tadanaka), itself from 只 (tada, 'just, right') and 中 (naka, 'middle'). The prefix strengthens the sense of being completely at the centre of a situation.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal