コチコチ

こちこち
adverb, onomatopoeia
stiff; frozen up; ticking
descriptiveonomatopoeia
1. stiff; hard; frozen up (with cold or tension)
Describes something rigid and hard—rock-frozen food, sun-baked clay, or a body stiff with cold or nerves. Also applies figuratively to inflexible people or attitudes.
餅(もち)がコチコチに凍(こお)っている。
The mochi is frozen rock-hard.
緊張(きんちょう)でコチコチに固(かた)まっていた。
I was frozen stiff with nervousness.
頭(あたま)がコチコチで新(あたら)しいやり方(かた)を受(う)け入(い)れようとしない。
He's so rigid in his thinking that he refuses to accept new methods.
2. tick-tock (of a clock)
The crisp ticking sound of a small clock or watch.
時計(とけい)がコチコチと鳴(な)っている。
The clock is ticking.
夜中(よなか)、コチコチという秒針(びょうしん)の音(おと)だけが聞(き)こえた。
In the middle of the night, only the tick-tock of the second hand could be heard.
古(ふる)い壁掛(かべか)け時計(どけい)がコチコチと時(とき)を刻(きざ)んでいる。
The old wall clock is ticking off the seconds.

Sense 1 (stiff/rigid) is far more common in everyday speech and applies to both physical hardness and mental inflexibility. Sense 2 (ticking) is the original onomatopoeic meaning. Often written in katakana for emphasis.

Common collocations

Similar words

  • カチカチ: harder, sharper sound; also "clicking" of teeth
  • カチンコチン: emphatic form meaning "frozen solid"
  • 頑固(がんこ): stubborn — explicit description without the physical metaphor

Related Words

Compare: カチカチ (harder, sharper sound)
Compare: 頑固(がんこ) (stubborn)
Compare: がちがち (rigid)
general
Added 2026.6.8 16:55 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
28500/28995_kochikochi