1.
boxed; packed in a box
describing an item that comes packaged in a box, typically implying higher quality or a gift presentation
箱入りのお菓子を買った。
I bought boxed sweets.
この箱入りのワインは贈り物にぴったりだ。
This boxed wine is perfect as a gift.
大切な品物なので箱入りで保管してある。
It's a precious item, so it's stored in a box.
2.
sheltered; overprotected
describing a person, especially a young woman, who has been raised in a sheltered, protective environment with little exposure to the outside world
父が厳しかったので、姉は箱入り娘として育った。
Because my father was strict, my older sister was raised as a sheltered girl.
箱入り娘だった彼女は、一人暮らしを始めて苦労した。
Having been a sheltered girl, she struggled when she started living on her own.
あの家のお嬢さんは箱入りで、世間のことをあまり知らない。
That family's young lady is sheltered and doesn't know much about the real world.
Literally "put in a box." The literal sense (sense 1) refers to items packaged in boxes, often implying quality or gift-readiness. The figurative sense (sense 2) describes someone raised in a protected environment, kept safe from the outside world like a treasured item in a box.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 箱入り娘: sheltered daughter — the most common figurative usage
- 箱入り息子: sheltered son — less common but used similarly
- 箱入りのお菓子: boxed sweets
CULTURAL NOTE:
The expression 箱入り娘 traditionally described daughters from good families who were carefully protected from the outside world. In modern usage, it can carry either a positive nuance (well-bred, innocent) or a slightly critical one (naive, lacking worldly experience).
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 世間知らず: naive about the world — focuses on the result of being sheltered
- お嬢様育ち: raised like a young lady — similar connotation of privileged upbringing