相変わらず
Meaning in Englishas ever, as usual, unchanged
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
相変わらず means 'as usual' or 'unchanged.' It is used to note that a situation, behavior, or condition remains the same as before, despite expectations or time passing.
Main meanings
- as always, in the same manner
- unchanged or not altered; persistent state
- ongoing situation described as 'still the same' over time
How to use it
Used in casual and semi-formal discourse to remark that a situation or person's behavior remains the same; typically follows a topic about ongoing state; can appear in written notes or informal correspondence; less common in highly formal contexts.
Variants and close terms
- いつも通り (itsumo-dori) — as usual; neutral nuance
- 同じく (onajiku) — in the same manner; close semantic shade
- 変わる (kawaru) — to change; antonym showing the opposite idea
Composition
- 相: appearance, state
- 变: change
- わらず: negative adverbial form of 変わる meaning 'not changing'
Etymology
相 indicates appearance or state, contributing the sense of a condition being observed; 変 means change; the aikawarazu reading shows how the two kanji pair with the auxiliary ず to form a negative adverbial meaning 'not changing'; phonetic stability arises as 変わる loses its final る in the fixed expression, yielding aikawarazu as the common pronunciation
Word class
adverbial phrase (adverb) (日本語: 副詞・慣用句)