KAKKI-RI かっきり
Meanings
1. Describes a division or boundary that is clearly defined.
2. Describes a time, quantity, amount of money, or similar measure with no excess, shortage, or remainder: exactly.
Examples
The war divided the country exactly in half.
あの国は戦争によってかっきり半分に分割されてしまった。
Dogmatic Opinion
KAKKI-RI may not be very common today. For sense 1, speakers are more likely to use HAKKI-RI or KUKKI-RI; for sense 2, KIKKA-RI, CHŌDO, or KICCHI-RI are more usual.
Purely as a sound impression, “kak” makes me think of 画 or 角—divisions, angles, and corners—while “kiri” makes me think of 切, “cut.” That gives me an image of a square object being divided cleanly along a straight line.
This is only a sound association, however; the actual origin of the word is completely different.
Proximate Expression
exactly
punctually
precisely
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
For a clearly marked boundary, sharply defined, clearly divided, or clearly demarcated may work. For exact time or quantity, exactly or precisely is natural. KAKKI-RI is uncommon, so learners are more likely to encounter KUKKI-RI, HAKKI-RI, KIKKA-RI, or KICCHI-RI in everyday Japanese.
