精々
せいぜい
at the most, at best; as much as possible
By Nihongo PathUpdated
Examples
精々三日で終わります。
せいぜいみっかでおわります。
It will take three days at most.
狭い部屋を精々広く使った。
せまいへやをせいぜいひろくつかった。
I made the best of my small room.
この店はお客が精々十人ぐらいです。
このみせはおきゃくがせいぜいじゅうにんぐらいです。
This shop gets ten customers at the most.
私にできるのは精々ここまでです。
わたしにできるのはせいぜいここまでです。
This is about as far as I can go.
Common patterns
- 精々〜ぐらい
- at most about ~
- 多くても精々
- at the very most
- 精々頑張る
- to try as hard as one can
Memory tip
Two jobs: capping a number ("ten at most"), usually with a hint that it is not much, and "as hard as one can". Beware that 精々頑張ってね can land as sarcasm depending on tone, so keep it for friends.
Kanji in this word
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What does 精々 mean?