N3 Compound Verbs and Suffixes

~(っ)きり: meaning, usage and examples

~(っ)きり means: only / just; since doing... (and nothing after).

Updated 9 November 2026 · By the My Senpai team · Spotted a mistake? Tell us

Examples

1. 二人ふたりっきりで会あいたいです。

   I'd like to meet with you alone (just the two of us).

2. 彼かれとは一度いちど会あったきりで、その後ご連絡れんらくがない。

   I met him just once, and I haven't heard from him since.

3. 弟おとうとは部屋へやに入はいったきり、出でてきません。

   My younger brother went into his room and hasn't come out since.

4. この映画えいがを見みたのは、子こどものとき一度いちどきりです。

   I've only seen this movie once, when I was a child.

When to use it

きり has two main uses. After a noun or number it means "only" or "just": 二人ふたりきり (just the two of us), 一度いちどきり (only once). After a past-tense verb it means something happened and then nothing followed: 出でかけたきり帰かえってこない (went out and never came back). The second use usually ends with a negative.

Nuance

っきり is the more emphatic, casual version heard in speech; きり is neutral and also used in writing. The た-form use often sounds worried or disappointed, because the expected next step never happened. In casual speech, それっきり means "and nothing since then."

Compare

きり vs だけ: both mean "only", but だけ is general (水みずだけ飲のんだ), while きり marks a limit with nothing more after it (一度いちどきり). ~たきり vs ~たまま: たまま is a state that continues (窓まどを開あけたまま寝ねた = slept with the window open). たきり stresses that nothing happened after (出でかけたきり連絡れんらくがない).

Tip: When you see a た-form + きり, expect a negative at the end: 会あったきり、会あっていない. The next step that never came is the point of the sentence.