わざわざ（わざわざ、wazaわざ）
- take the trouble

わざわざ means "to go out of one's way," "to do something especially," "to take the trouble to," or "to bother to." It often implies that the action was done with extra effort, consideration, or intention, sometimes even unnecessarily. The word suggests a sense of deliberate action that goes beyond what is expected or required. It often highlights the kindness, inconvenience, or the extra step someone took.

⚫︎わざわざ来てくれてありがとう。 Translation: Thank you for coming all this way. ⚫︎わざわざ電話してくれなくてもよかったのに。 Translation: You didn't have to go to the trouble of calling me. ⚫︎彼のために、わざわざプレゼントを買った。 Translation: I went out of my way to buy a present for him.

⚫︎You can use わざわざ to express appreciation for someone's extra effort. ⚫︎It can also be used to express a slight sense of "unnecessary" action, even if the intention was good. ⚫︎It's common to see わざわざ before verbs. ⚫︎It's often used with polite forms of verbs. ⚫︎You can use わざわざ to express surprise or mild annoyance when someone does something that wasn't necessary.

⚫︎わざわざ is typically written in hiragana. ⚫︎There is no Kanji for わざわざ. ⚫︎The okurigana is fixed.

⚫︎特に (tokuni) - especially, particularly (can sometimes overlap in meaning) ⚫︎わざと (wazato) - on purpose, intentionally (though with a slightly different nuance emphasizing intent) ⚫︎無理に (murini) - forcibly, against one's will ⚫︎わざとらしい (wazatorashii) - artificial, affected, or pretentious

⚫︎There aren't direct antonyms, as わざわざ describes an action rather than a state. However, the opposite of the implied meaning could be something like "not bothering" or "doing the bare minimum."

試験のために、わざわざ遠くまで行った。 ・Translation: I went all the way to a distant place for the exam. ・Explanation: This sentence implies that the person took extra effort (going a long distance) specifically for the exam.

お忙しいのに、わざわざありがとうございます。 ・Translation: Thank you for taking the trouble, even though you are busy. ・Explanation: This sentence shows gratitude and acknowledges that the person made an effort despite their busy schedule.

⚫︎The word's etymology is not precisely clear, but it is considered to be a compound of わざ and わざ。 ⚫︎わざ can mean "intention", "purpose," or "deliberately." Therefore, わざわざ emphasizes the conscious decision to do something.