1.
young boy; son (of someone else, polite)
A polite term used to address or refer to someone else's young son or a young boy in general.
坊っちゃん、おいくつですか。
How old are you, young man?
お隣の坊っちゃんは今年小学校に入ったそうだ。
I hear the neighbor's boy started elementary school this year.
社長の坊っちゃんが入社してきたらしい。
Apparently, the company president's son has joined the firm.
2.
pampered boy; sheltered young man; rich kid
A young man who has been raised in comfort and lacks worldly experience. Often implies naivety or being spoiled.
彼は坊っちゃん育ちで苦労を知らない。
He was raised as a pampered boy and doesn't know hardship.
いいところの坊っちゃんだから、庶民の暮らしが分からないんだろう。
He's a rich kid from a good family, so he probably doesn't understand how ordinary people live.
坊っちゃん気質で世間知らずだと言われている。
He's said to have a sheltered temperament and be ignorant of the world.
坊っちゃん comes from 坊 (boy, monk) with the diminutive/affectionate ちゃん suffix. The っ is a phonetic change.
Sense 1 is a polite, respectful term for someone else's son. Sense 2 often carries an ironic or critical tone, suggesting the person is naive or spoiled.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 坊っちゃん育ち (raised as a pampered child)
- 坊っちゃん気質 (sheltered temperament)
- いいところの坊っちゃん (boy from a well-off family)
The word is also famous as the title of Natsume Soseki's novel 「坊っちゃん」(1906).
SIMILAR WORDS:
- お嬢さん: young lady, daughter (the female equivalent)