暴発
ぼうはつ
noun, suru verb
accidental discharge (of a firearm); sudden outburst; unplanned eruption
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 暴発する | 暴発しない |
| Present polite | 暴発します | 暴発しません |
| Past | 暴発した | 暴発しなかった |
| Past polite | 暴発しました | 暴発しませんでした |
| て form | 暴発して | 暴発しなくて |
| ている present | 暴発している | 暴発していない |
| ている polite | 暴発しています | 暴発していません |
| ている past | 暴発していた | 暴発していなかった |
| ている past polite | 暴発していました | 暴発していませんでした |
| Conditional ば | 暴発すれば | 暴発しなければ |
| Conditional たら | 暴発したら | 暴発しなかったら |
| Volitional | 暴発しよう | — |
| Volitional polite | 暴発しましょう | — |
| Potential | 暴発できる | 暴発できない |
| Passive | 暴発される | 暴発されない |
| Causative | 暴発させる | 暴発させない |
| Imperative | 暴発しろ | 暴発するな |
1.
accidental discharge of a firearm — a gun going off unintentionally
The most specific use: a gun firing without the shooter intending it. Typical in news reports about mishandled firearms, training accidents, or hunting incidents.
2.
a sudden and unplanned outburst; an unprovoked eruption of tension, emotion, or conflict
An extended use for any eruption that breaks out unexpectedly — pent-up anger, a wave of protests, or a conflict that flares up without formal declaration. The nuance is of something latent suddenly breaking out of control.
Composed of 暴 ("violent, unruly") + 発 ("firing, eruption"). The core sense is a firearm going off by accident, but the word extends metaphorically to any sudden, unplanned outburst.
Transitivity
- As a suru-verb, 暴発する is intransitive: the gun, the feeling, or the conflict is the subject that "goes off" on its own — there is no external agent doing it.
Usage
- Sense 1 is literal and is the dominant usage in news and legal contexts.
- Sense 2 appears in writing about politics, international affairs, or emotions, often with nouns like 感情, 怒り, 不満, or 紛争.
- Often contrasted with 発砲 (intentional firing): 発砲 is deliberate, 暴発 is accidental.
Common collocations
- 銃が暴発する: a gun goes off accidentally
- 暴発事故: an accidental-discharge incident
- 感情が暴発する: emotions suddenly erupt
- 不満が暴発する: pent-up discontent boils over
Similar words
- 発砲: firing (a gun) — deliberate, not accidental.
- 爆発: explosion — destruction by detonation; also used metaphorically for sudden outbursts (especially of anger).
- 噴出: eruption, spouting out — used for liquids/gases, or metaphorically for complaints flooding out at once.
- 誤射: mistaken shot — shooting the wrong target, a related but distinct error.