POCCHI-RI ぽっちり
Meanings
1. Describes an amount or degree as extremely small—only a tiny bit.
2. Describes a tiny rounded point or bump standing out visibly from a surface.
Examples
These days, you can’t buy anything with an allowance of only 100 yen.
いまどき、小遣いで１００円ぽっちりじゃ、何も買えないよ。
With a shirt that thin, the tips of your nipples will show as little bumps.
そんな薄手のシャツじゃ、乳首がぽっちり浮いて見えてしまうよ。
Dogmatic Opinion
POCHI and POCCHI make me think of the shape of a small button.
That may be why POCCHI-RI also gives me the image of something tiny, round, and dot-like.
To put it very directly, the tip of a nipple is probably the most representative example of sense 2 in my mind.
The two meanings meet at smallness: either a tiny quantity or a tiny visible point.
Proximate Expression
a little bit
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
A tiny amount, just a little, only, a small dot, and a tiny bump may fit. For quantities, the English is usually “only” or “just”; for a visible point, describe the actual small protrusion.
