PITTA-RI ぴったり
Meanings
1. Describes two surfaces fitting or closing together with no gap.
2. Describes two things matching or coinciding perfectly.
3. Describes something as exactly suitable, appropriate, fitting, or correct.
4. Describes something that had been continuing or moving coming to a complete stop.
Examples
Close the zipper seal completely so the two sides fit together tightly.
ジップロックはチャックの部分をぴったり閉じ合わせてください。
Team sports only work when all the members are perfectly in sync.
団体競技は、メンバーの息がぴったり合っていないとうまくいかない。
The glass slipper fit Cinderella perfectly.
ガラスの靴は、シンデレラの足にぴったりでした。
I found a book that is perfect for young people.
若い人にぴったりの本を見つけた。
I got the trifecta prediction exactly right.
競馬で三連単がぴったり的中した。
After getting married, I completely stopped smoking and drinking.
結婚したので、タバコと酒をぴったりやめた。
Dogmatic Opinion
There is a small physiological pleasure when two things overlap at exactly the right size.
Perhaps PITTA-RI also contains the tiny instant of stillness when that perfect match occurs.
Consider JŪNI-JI PITTA-RI—exactly twelve o’clock. You could imagine the clock hands aligning with the twelve and mentally freezing that satisfying instant.
PITTA-RI and SHIKKU-RI overlap, but they are not the same. PITTA-RI readily handles exact matches in size, time, quantity, conditions, and predictions. SHIKKU-RI is more subjective: something settles naturally into your own sense of what feels right, with no discomfort.
PITTA-RI is the click of correspondence.
Proximate Expression
perfect match
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
Perfectly, exactly, just right, fit perfectly, match exactly, and be perfect for are common. “この服はぴったり” is “This fits perfectly”; “3時ぴったり” is “exactly at three”; “この役にぴったり” is “perfect for this role.” English changes expression depending on what is matching.
