CHOPPI-RI ちょっぴり
Meanings
Describes an extremely small quantity or degree: just a little, a tiny bit, or slightly.
Examples
I secretly ate just a tiny bit of the caviar in the refrigerator without telling my husband.
冷蔵庫にあったキャビアを夫に内緒でちょっぴり食べた。
This habanero sauce is so hot that even a tiny bit is enough to make you feel like you’re dying.
このハバネロソースは、ちょっぴり入れただけで、死ぬほど辛い。
Dogmatic Opinion
CHOPPI-RI is a conversational, slightly childlike version of “a little” or “a bit.”
But I think it also tries to communicate a degree of smallness that ordinary SUKOSHI or CHOTTO does not quite capture—something like a single drop from an eyedropper.
If I am eating a steak and someone says, “Give me SUKOSHI,” I may lose as much as 25 percent in the worst case.
If they say CHOTTO, perhaps 10 percent.
If they say CHOPPI-RI, I imagine 1 to 9 percent—so little that I do not subjectively feel that my steak has really been taken from me.
These percentages are, of course, completely unscientific. But that exaggerated smallness is exactly the feeling of CHOPPI-RI.
Proximate Expression
A tiny bit
A wee bit
very slightly
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
A little, a tiny bit, just a touch, and slightly are natural. CHOPPI-RI can sound softer, cuter, or more playful than neutral SUKOSHI. “ちょっぴり寂しい” is naturally “I’m a little lonely” or “I’m just a tiny bit lonely,” depending on tone.
