Meaning

Primary

Derailment

Alternative

Digression

Word Type

noun, verbal noun

Explanation

When something escapes from the line it should be on, that's a derailment.

脱線 can refer to train derailments (no surprise there), but often gets used figuratively to mean a digression, like in speech or writing. Do you ever derail conversations with your digressions?

Reading

だっせん
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

This is a jukugo word, which usually means on'yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you'll know how to read this as well.

Context

Common Word Combinations

  • 脱線をまぬがれる

    to avoid derailment

    脱線をしてしまう

    to unintentionally digress

    脱線をする

    to derail, to digress

Context Sentences

話が脱線しました。

The conversation got sidetracked.

電車が脱線しましたが、ケガ人はありませんでした。

The train was derailed, but nobody was injured.

すいません、また脱線してしまいました。

Sorry, I got sidetracked again.

Kanji Composition