MUKKU-RI むっくり
Meanings
1. Describes the upper body slowly or heavily rising from a lying position, or something gradually emerging, rising, or swelling into existence.
2. In expressions such as ZUNGURI MUKKU-RI, describes a short, thick, rounded body shape.
Examples
He slowly sat up, went to the bathroom, and then immediately went back to sleep.
むっくりと起き上がり、トイレに行ったと思ったら、またすぐ寝ていた。
The idea “Why not play a prank?” slowly rose up in my mind.
「悪戯をしてしまえ」という考えが、頭の中でむっくりと湧いてきました。
My, uh, “son” started rising inside my trousers.
ムスコがズボンの中でむっくりとしちゃいまして。
When I was little, I was short and fat—very much the ZUNGURI MUKKU-RI type.
幼い頃は、小さくて太っていて、ずんぐりむっくりって感じでしたよ。
Dogmatic Opinion
Like MUKU-MUKU, MUKKU-RI gives me an image of something gradually swelling or rising.
There also seems to be a common lack of complete conscious control.
An erection, a bad idea arising, another person slowly sitting up—these things seem to happen partly on their own.
I would not normally say of my own deliberate action, “I got up MUKKU-RI this morning.”
Sense 2 appears in ZUNGURI MUKKU-RI, describing someone short and thickset. The dictionary wording may sound pleasantly plump, but in that expression the body shape is not especially delicate or moderate.
Proximate Expression
well up
short fat
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
Slowly sit up, rise, emerge, well up, spring up gradually, short and plump, and squat and stocky may fit depending on context. Suddenness is not the core of MUKKU-RI; the Japanese source emphasizes a somewhat slow rising or swelling motion.
