見切り

• Reading: みきり
• Romaji: mikiri
• Kanji breakdown: 見 (ken/mi) — see, discern; 切 (setsu/ki) — cut, decide definitively
• Pronunciation: /mi.ki.ɾi/

Meaning

Giving up; writing something off; cutting losses. Also: clearance pricing to quickly sell off remaining stock.

Has two interrelated meanings: (1) decisively giving up on something or someone deemed hopeless (見切りをつける = to write off, to give up on); (2) clearance pricing of goods being sold off below cost (見切り品 = clearance item, marked-down goods). In investment contexts it overlaps with 損切り (cutting losses). The core idea is making a clear-eyed, unsentimental decision to abandon something.

Examples

1. 長年続けた事業に見切りをつけて廃業を決意した。 He decided to write off the business he had run for many years and close it down.
2. 含み損が拡大する前に見切りをつけて売却した。 The position was sold before unrealised losses could grow any larger.
3. スーパーの閉店前には見切り品が半額で並んでいる。 Before closing time, supermarkets put clearance items on the shelves at half price.

Usage Guide

Context: business, investing, retail, decision-making

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

Nominalisation of 見切る (to see clearly through to the end; to size up completely and decide to abandon). 見 (see) + 切る (to cut through, to decide completely).

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal