1.
growing wider toward the end; fan shape
A shape that broadens out toward its far end, like an opened folding fan. Used both literally and as an auspicious image of expanding fortune over time.
末広がりの形をしている。
It has a shape that widens toward the end.
末広がりで縁起がいい数字だ。
It's an auspicious number that suggests growing prosperity.
結婚式の祝辞で、二人の未来が末広がりになることを願った。
In the wedding speech, I wished that the couple's future would grow ever wider in fortune.
Compound of 末 (end, far future) + 広がる (to spread, widen). Literally "widening toward the end."
CULTURAL CONTEXT:
The shape evokes the folding fan (扇子), which is itself considered an auspicious object. The number 8 (八) is called 末広がり because the kanji {八} widens at the bottom, making it a lucky number associated with growing prosperity.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 末広がりの形: fan-spreading shape
- 末広がりで縁起がいい: auspicious for its widening shape
- 末広がりになる: to grow in prosperity over time