TOPPU-RI とっぷり
Meanings
Describes the sun having fully set and the surroundings becoming completely dark.
Examples
Night had fully fallen, and the moon began to shine.
とっぷり日が暮れ、月が照りだした。
Dogmatic Opinion
When I hear TOPPU-RI, I immediately think of the expression TOPPU-RI HI GA KURERU—night falling completely.
Apparently the word can also describe being wholly immersed in liquid, but DOPPU-RI is much more common for that meaning.
For the change from daylight to darkness, SUKKA-RI HI GA KURERU can express almost the same result. Yet choosing TOPPU-RI seems to make the scene more tangible: I feel the sun itself sinking, almost like a round object gradually disappearing into liquid.
So the word does not merely report that it is dark. It can evoke the experience of daylight sinking away.
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
Night had fully fallen, it had grown completely dark, and after nightfall are natural possibilities. TOPPU-RI is strongly associated with HI GA KURERU, “the sun sets/night falls,” and can sound more evocative than a neutral statement that it is dark.
