杜撰

• Reading: ずさん
• Romaji: zusan
• Kanji breakdown: 杜 (zu/to) — (proper name element); 撰 (san/sen) — compose, compile
• Pronunciation: /zɯ.saɴ/

Meaning

Careless; sloppy; faulty. Describing work or management done without proper care or attention.

A na-adjective and noun describing negligent, slipshod work or management. Carries a strongly critical tone — implying that errors resulted from lack of diligence rather than difficulty. Common collocations: 杜撰な管理 (sloppy management), 杜撰な計画 (careless planning), 杜撰な対応 (sloppy handling). Takes な before nouns.

Examples

1. 杜撰な管理体制が事故の原因だった。 A sloppy management system was the cause of the accident.
2. 経理の杜撰さが監査で指摘された。 The sloppiness in the accounting was flagged during the audit.
3. 杜撰な計画のせいでプロジェクトが失敗した。 The project failed due to careless planning.

Usage Guide

Context: business, news, criticism

Tone: critical

Origin & History

Attributed to the Song-dynasty Chinese poet 杜黙 (Du Mo), whose poetry was said to violate metrical rules. 撰 means 'compose/compile.' The compound came to mean 'full of errors' — like poorly composed poetry — and was borrowed into Japanese with the meaning of careless, sloppy work.

Cultural Context

Era: Classical

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal