忽ち
たちまち
at once; in a moment; suddenly; all at once
By Nihongo PathUpdated
Examples
切符は忽ち売り切れた。
きっぷはたちまちうりきれた。
The tickets sold out in a moment.
噂は忽ち町中に広がった。
うわさはたちまちまちじゅうにひろがった。
The rumour spread through the whole town in no time.
彼が現れると、その場の騒ぎは忽ち静まった。
かれがあらわれると、そのばのさわぎはたちまちしずまった。
The moment he appeared, the commotion died down at once.
Common patterns
- 忽ち売り切れる
- to sell out instantly
- 忽ち広がる
- to spread in no time
- 忽ち人気になる
- to become popular overnight
Memory tip
In real writing this is almost always kana たちまち — 忽 is a rare kanji you only need to recognise. It reports a change that has already happened fast, so it takes past-tense verbs far more often than future ones.
Kanji in this word
- 忽Not in the N5–N1 kanji lists
Quick check
1 / 2Multiple choiceDifficulty 4 of 5
What does 忽ち mean?