手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)い

てっとりばやい

i-adjective

quick and easy, the fastest way

Conjugation

	Affirmative	Negative
Present	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)い	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)くない
Past	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)かった	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)くなかった
て form	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)くて	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)くなくて
Adverbial	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)く	—
Conditional ば	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)ければ	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)くなければ
Conditional たら	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)かったら	手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)くなかったら

1. quick and easy, the fastest way, expedient

Describes a method or approach that is the quickest and simplest way to achieve something. Often implies cutting through complexity to get straight to the point.

手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)い方法(ほうほう)はないかな。

Isn't there a quicker way to do this?

電話(でんわ)するのが一番(いちばん)手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)い。

Calling is the quickest option.

自分(じぶん)で調(しら)べるより、詳(くわ)しい人(ひと)に聞(き)くほうが手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)い。

Rather than looking it up yourself, it's quicker to ask someone who knows.

手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)い is a colloquial expression meaning the quickest, most efficient way to do something. It is commonly used in spoken Japanese when suggesting shortcuts or practical solutions.

Etymology: Literally "quick at taking by hand" — the image is of grabbing something swiftly without fuss.

Common patterns

〜のが手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)い: doing ~ is the quickest way
手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)く + verb: to quickly ~

Common collocations

手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)い方法(ほうほう): the quickest method
手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)く言(い)うと: to put it simply, in short
手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)く済(す)ませる: to get it done quickly

Note: The adverbial form 手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)く is very common, especially in the phrase 手(て)っ取(と)り早(ばや)く言(い)うと ("to put it briefly").

general

Added 2026.2.22 19:24 · Revised 2026.10.7 17:00

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