Word
出くわす
Meaning in Englishto happen to meet, to come across
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
What does 出くわす mean? It means to unexpectedly encounter someone or something, often in everyday life, with a sense of surprise or spontaneity as the encounter was not planned.
Main meanings
- Spontaneous appearances of people or things in daily life
- Encountering a situation or obstacle by chance, often prompting a reaction
- Common in casual speech and narratives; less formal than some Sino-Japanese equivalents
How to use it
Used in casual and semi-formal Japanese to describe meeting someone unexpectedly or encountering a situation by chance. Typical constructions include 出くわす with に or で to mark what is encountered; common in everyday conversation and light narration; Japanese phrases often emphasize the surprise element rather than a planned meeting. 街で友達に出くわす, 珍しい出来事に出くわす, トラブルに出くわす
Variants and close terms
- 遭遇する (sougū suru) – encounter by chance
- 偶然出会う (guuzen de au) – meet by chance
- 出会う (deau) – to meet, often by chance in a broader sense
Composition
- 出: to come out, appear
- くわす: a verb element attached to 出 to form the compound meaning of encountering something by chance; the combination yields the sense of something appearing unexpectedly in front of you
Word class
verb (godan)
Related words by kanji and components
N1
差し出す
sashidasu
to present, to submit, to hold out
N1
産出
sanshutsu
yield, produce
N1
投げ出す
nagedasu
to abandon, to throw out
N1
逃げ出す
nigedasu
to run away, to escape from
N1
抜け出す
nukedasu
to slip out, to sneak away, to excel
N1
売り出し
uridashi
(bargain) sale
N1
売り出す
uridasu
to put on sale, to market
N1
演出
enshutsu
production (erg. play, direction)
N1
追い出す
oidasu
to expel, to drive out